The role of daily adjustment disorder, depression and anxiety symptoms for the physical activity of cardiac patients.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) is crucial in the treatment of cardiac disease. There is a high prevalence of stress-response and affective disorders among cardiac patients, which might be negatively associated with their PA. This study aimed at investigating daily differential associations of International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11 adjustment disorder, depression and anxiety symptoms with PA and sedentary behaviour (SB) during and right after inpatient cardiac rehabilitation. METHODS: The sample included N = 129 inpatients in cardiac rehabilitation, Mage = 62.2, s.d.age = 11.3, 84.5% male, n = 2845 days. Adjustment disorder, depression and anxiety symptoms were measured daily during the last 7 days of rehabilitation and for 3 weeks after discharge. Moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), light PA (LPA) and SB were measured with an accelerometer. Bayesian lagged multilevel regressions including all three symptoms to obtain their unique effects were conducted. RESULTS: On days with higher adjustment disorder symptoms than usual, patients engaged in less MVPA, and more SB. Patients with overall higher depression symptoms engaged in less MVPA, less LPA and more SB. On days with higher depression symptoms than usual, there was less MVPA and LPA, and more SB. Patients with higher anxiety symptoms engaged in more LPA and less SB. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight the necessity to screen for and treat adjustment disorder and depression symptoms during cardiac rehabilitation.

Predicting physical activity following cardiac rehabilitation: A longitudinal observational study.

PURPOSE: The adoption of a healthy lifestyle is crucial for patients with established cardiac diseases. However, many patients do not engage in regular physical activity in their everyday life. RESEARCH METHOD: The present study applied the health action process approach (HAPA) in an intensive longitudinal research design (n = 3,354 daily surveys) investigating intention towards physical activity and objectively measured physical activity in 137 cardiac patients (Mage = 62.1 years) during and after inpatient rehabilitation across 28 days. Self-reported HAPA variables were measured daily in online questionnaires at the end of each day. Theory-driven hypotheses were tested using linear multilevel models. RESULTS: One-third of the sample did not reach the recommended physical activity levels in the first weeks after discharge from rehabilitation. Results are mostly in line with the motivational HAPA phase at both levels of analysis; outcome expectations and self-efficacy were positively associated with intentions. Results for the volitional phase were partly in line with the HAPA. Daily deviations in previous-day planning and concurrent action control were positively associated with physical activity during and after cardiac rehabilitation. CONCLUSION: The results of this study partly speak towards the HAPA in predicting physical activity in cardiac patients, thereby replicating prior research. The HAPA framework offers guidance for motivating and empowering cardiac patients to be more active in their everyday life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Implementation of a Novel Medication Regimen Following Cardiac Rehabilitation: an Application of the Health Action Process Approach.

BACKGROUND: Medication adherence is an indispensable prerequisite for the long-term management of many chronic diseases. However, published literature suggests that non-adherence is widely prevalent. Health behavior change theories can help understand the underlying processes and allow the accumulation of knowledge in the field. The present study applied the health action process approach (HAPA) in an intensive longitudinal research design to investigate medication adherence in patients after discharge from inpatient cardiac rehabilitation. METHOD: In total, n = 139 patients (84.9% male, Mage = 62.2 years) completed n = 2,699 daily diaries in the 22 days following discharge from inpatient cardiac rehabilitation. Patients' intentions to take medication and predictors were assessed in daily end-of-day questionnaires. Adherence to medication was measured subjectively (self-report) and objectively. Multilevel modeling was applied to disentangle the between- and within-person level. RESULTS: Higher levels of risk awareness and self-efficacy were positively associated with intentions to take medication at both levels of analysis. Contrary to theoretical assumptions, positive outcome expectations were not associated with intention, neither between- nor within-person. In contrast to published literature, patients showed very high medication adherence (95.2% self-report, 92.2% objectively). CONCLUSION: In line with the theoretical assumptions, the results showed that risk awareness and self-efficacy are promising modifiable factors that could be targeted to motivate patients to take medication as prescribed. Daily measurements revealed that patients took their medication as prescribed; thus, future studies should make every effort to recruit patients vulnerable to non-adherence to avoid ceiling effects.

Physical activity after cardiac rehabilitation: Explicit and implicit attitudinal components and ambivalence.

OBJECTIVE: Physical activity is crucial in the treatment of cardiac disease. In addition to sociocognitive theories of behavior change, attitudinal ambivalence and nonconscious factors have also been demonstrated to predict physical activity. We propose an extension to the theory of planned behavior with a dual-systems approach including explicit and implicit attitudes, and different types of attitudinal ambivalence as moderators to predict the physical activity of patients after discharge from inpatient cardiac rehabilitation. METHOD: The sample comprised N = 111 cardiac patients who provided daily diary reports of intention, cognitive, affective, and implicit attitudes for 21 days after discharge (86% male, Mage = 62, SDage = 11, n = 2,017 days). Daily moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) and light (LPA) physical activity were measured using accelerometers. Five types of ambivalence were calculated. Analyses included Bayesian multilevel modeling. RESULTS: Patients with more positive affective attitudes and more positive implicit attitudes had a higher intention. Higher ambivalence weakened the affective attitudes-intention relationship. On days with more positive implicit attitudes than usual, intention was lower, but only when ambivalence was low. Patients with higher ambivalence engaged in less MVPA. On days with extremely low ambivalence, implicit attitudes were negatively associated with tomorrow's MVPA. Patients with more positive affective attitudes engaged in more LPA, but only when their ambivalence was very low. On days with higher ambivalence than usual, the next day's LPA was shorter. However, another type of ambivalence showed the opposite effect. CONCLUSIONS: The results emphasize the importance of affective and implicit attitudes and ambivalence for the physical activity of cardiac patients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Improvements in exercise capacity of older adults during cardiac rehabilitation.

AIMS: Cardiac rehabilitation plays a vital role in secondary prevention of cardiovascular patients. Female sex and higher age, however, are associated with non-referral to cardiac rehabilitation. Improving exercise capacity during cardiac rehabilitation is essential to reduce morbidity and mortality risks. The objective of this study was to closely examine the beneficial changes in exercise capacity of older patients of both sexes during cardiac rehabilitation and to identify the most important predictors of the change in exercise capacity. METHOD: A sample of 13,612 patients (mean age = 69.10 ± 11.8 years, 63.7% men, 19% > 80 years) was analysed. Data were prospectively assessed from 2012-2018 in six Swiss in-patient cardiovascular rehabilitation clinics. Improvement in exercise capacity measured with the six-minute walking test represents the outcome variable. Univariate and multivariate analyses, as well as the random forest method were used to estimate variable importance. RESULTS: Mean improvement in the six-minute walking test was 113.5 ± 90.5 m (men = 118.7 ± 110.0; women = 104.4 ± 93.0, Cohen's d = 0.16). The presence of heart failure, diabetes mellitus and psychiatric diagnoses was related to reduced but nonetheless clinically relevant six-minute walking test improvement. Random forest analysis suggests that baseline exercise capacity, age, time in rehabilitation and heart failure were the most important predictors for improvement in exercise capacity. Clinically relevant improvements in exercise capacity (>45 m) were also present into old age (85 years) and for both sexes. CONCLUSION: As indicated by these results, efforts need to be increased to refer eligible patients to structured rehabilitation programmes, irrespective of patients' age and sex.