An adjunct exercise program for serious mental illness: who chooses to participate and is it feasible?
Despite evidence that exercise is beneficial for serious mental illness, it continues to be an under utilized adjunct treatment strategy. Thus, the aims of this study were to examine if self-selected or volunteer exercise programs are feasible in a structured outpatient program and who might choose to participate in such a program. Individuals with serious mental illness admitted to a partial hospital program were offered an adjunct exercise group or a control, psychoeducation group. The exercise group (N = 38) met three times a week for 50 min. Individuals who chose not to exercise (N = 28), attended a psychoeducational control group. Those who self-selected the exercise group tended to have a higher level of education, employment rate and to be Caucasian. The control group had more medical problems, a higher body mass index and alcohol intake. The groups did not differ on age, sex, or use of cigarettes and caffeine. The exercise group was regularly attended. Both groups improved equally on all outcomes symptom and psychological well-being outcomes. These data highlight that certain individuals with serious mental illness may be more likely to exercise based on demographic opposed to clinical features, or illness characteristics. Thus, adjunct exercise programs for individuals with serious mental illness seem to be feasible, but certain groups of individuals (i.e., ethnic minorities, unemployed) should be targeted for recruitment as they are less likely to volunteer for such adjunct exercise programs.
Bipolar Clinic and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, 50 Staniford St, Boston, MA 02114, USA. lsylvia2@partners.org
Louisa G
LG
Sylvia
Lynne
L
Kopeski
Carrie
C
Brown
Paula
P
Bolton
Corina
C
Laudate
Gina
G
DiGangi
Paula
P
Martin
James A
JA
Reid
Jules C
JC
Martowski
Amy
A
Meade
Ingrid A
IA
Sarmiento
Jianping
J
Wang
Angela C
AC
Utschig
Arthur
A
Siegel
Edmund C
EC
Neuhaus
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult