Effectiveness of a supervised PA programme on behavioural and motivational profiles and health in obese and non-obese patients with chronic disease

ABSTRACT

Physical Activity is a cornerstone in the management of obesity and prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases. Supervised PA training effectively increases PA levels, but long-term PA is difficult to maintain because of psychological and physical barriers. The aim of this study was, first, to characterise the spontaneous initial behavioural, intentional and motivational incentives to practice PA, as well as the health profiles of obese and non-obese patients with chronic diseases and, secondly, to assess the effect of a 3-month PA training programme on these profiles. Twenty-seven participants 59 years of age completed the survey, at baseline (T0), at the end of the training (T3), and three months after the programme ended (T6). Before training, obese patients differed from non-obese ones in pain perception, self-efficacy to manage their pain, perceived physical condition and walking distance . Training improved the stage of change and global health perception, increased intrinsic regulation, time spent in leisure and occupational activities, and decreased introjected regulation. Moreover, there were more obese patients in the relapse stage at T6, but they felt less heavy and increased their leisure PA time. These results suggested that BMI influenced joint pain, perception of the physical condition and, consequently, walking distance. The 3-month supervised PA training was effective to improve global health perception, the stage of change, profile motivation and PA behaviours. Both BMI groups spent more time in leisure PA at the end and 3 months after the training , but obese patients were more frequently in the relapse stage at T6.

KEYWORDS:

• Motivation
• physical activity
• chronic disease
• behavioural profile
• body mass index

Acknowledgements

First, the authors wish to thank Aurelie Van Hoye for her advice about intention and motivation evaluation tools. They also thank the physical activity professionals for their help with patient recruitment and the volunteers who participated in this study. Finally, they thank Gail Wagman for proofreading this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).