title: Preliminary Effectiveness and Sustainability of Group Aerobic Exercise Program in Patients with Schizophrenia.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility and sustained effect of a group aerobic exercise program in patients with schizophrenia. Twenty-four schizophrenic patients participated in a group-based individually tailored 90-minute outdoor cycling session per week for 3 months with intervention to enhance motivation. Physical health was evaluated by anthropometric measures, cardiorespiratory (CR) fitness, and blood tests. Mental health was assessed on self-esteem, interpersonal relationship, quality of life, and global function. Attrition rate for the exercise program was 8.3%. Exercise program significantly increased participant's self-esteem, positive relationship, global function, and quality of life. CR fitness significantly improved after 3 months. At the 9-month follow-up, 6 months after program completion, only in interpersonal relationship change the improved effects were maintained. These findings support the feasibility of group aerobic exercise program with high level of adherence and its long-term benefits in positive relationship change.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Psychiatry, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine; †Functional Brain Imaging Laboratory, Institute for Cognitive Science, College of Humanities, Seoul National University; ‡Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul; §Gwangmyeong Community Mental Health Center, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do; and ¶Department of Psychiatry, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sol
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Je-Kwang
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Chan-Hyung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jhin-Goo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Hwa-Bock
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Do-Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Daeyoung
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015444:Exercise; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000628:therapy*; D012649:Self Concept; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult