Determinants of Physical Activity Guideline Attainment in Australian Cardiac Patients: A 12-Month Study

Predictors of Exercise Training and Physical Activity Adherence in People Recently Hospitalized With Heart Failure: A BRIEF REPORT

PURPOSE

For individuals with heart failure (HF), frequent attendance at exercise training programs and meeting physical activity (PA) guidelines are significantly associated with improvements in 6-min walk distance. Despite the evidence, adherence to exercise interventions remains poor. The aim of this study was to identify predictors of these 2 variables in patients recently hospitalized with HF.

METHODS

In this substudy of the Exercise Joins Education: Combined Therapy to Improve Outcomes in Newly-discharged Heart Failure (EJECTION-HF) trial, all participants were enrolled in a HF disease management program, including weekly review of a home exercise program for 12 wk. Intervention group participants additionally undertook twice weekly supervised exercise training. Primary outcomes were frequent exercise training program attendance (≥12 sessions) and attainment of PA guidelines (150 min/wk of moderate intensity exercise) at 12 wk. Participant and clinical characteristics were analyzed using a logistic regression model to identify significant predictors of each outcome.

RESULTS

A total of 278 participants provided PA data and 140 contributed attendance data. New diagnosis of HF was a significant predictor of frequent program attendance (OR = 2.3; 95% CI, 1.1-4.7; P = .03). Predictors of meeting PA guidelines at follow-up included new HF diagnosis (OR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.2-4.8, P = .013), and being physically active at baseline (OR = 2.7; 95% CI, 1.3-5.6; P = .007). Gender, symptom severity, multimorbidity, and disability were not significantly associated with either outcome in multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION

To improve adherence, specific strategies may be required for patients with decompensated HF and those physically inactive at time of referral.