Article

This study compared attendance of women participating in a
motivationally enhanced, gender-tailored cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program with
that of women attending a traditional outpatient CR program. We also sought to
determine the significant baseline predictors of attendance of the exercise and
education components of the interventions. METHODS: Data from 252 women with CHD
in the randomized clinical trial, the Women's-Only Cardiac Rehabilitation
Program, were used in this study. The experimental design used 2 treatment
groups: both receiving a comprehensive, 12-week, CR program, with 1 group
receiving a gender-tailored, stage-of-change matched, behavioral enhancement
using individualized motivational interviewing. RESULTS: Compared with women in
the traditional CR program, women in the gender-tailored program attended
significantly more of the prescribed exercise (90% vs 77%) and education sessions
(87% vs 56%). Group assignment accounted for about 5% of the variance in exercise
attendance (F1,250 = 12.755, P < .001) and about 24% of the variance in education
attendance (F1,250 = 77.942, P < .001). After controlling for group assignment,
the baseline characteristics of smoking status, marital status, and anxiety
accounted for about 17% of the variance in exercise attendance (F5,245 = 10.494,
P < .001). Smoking status and marital status were significant baseline predictors
of education attendance (F5,245 = 6.115, P < .001) after controlling for group
assignment. CONCLUSIONS: The long-standing, poor attendance of women in CR
continues to be an unresolved international challenge. Gender-tailored,
stage-matched, CR programs hold promise for enhancing attendance to prescribed
protocols. Additional research examining the efficacy of gender-sensitive,
motivationally enhanced CR for women compared with generic CR programs is
warranted.

Langue : ANGLAIS