The Effects of a Pedometer Intervention on The Physical Activity Patterns of Cardiac Rehabilitation Participants

Purpose: To assess whether the provision of a pedometer and exercise diary could significantly increase the activity levels of phase II cardiac rehabilitation program patients on the days they did not attend the program. Methods: Seventy patients (53 males, 17 females, age of 68 plus/minus 9 yrs, BMI 29.0 plus/minus 6.1 kg/m² participated in the study. During their first visit to a phase II CRP, patients were assigned to one of two groups. Control patients were given a blinded pedometer (n = 34), while experimental subjects received a pedometer that they could view (n = 36) as well as an exercise diary to record their daily step counts. Control patients wore the pedometer during all of their waking hours throughout phase II CRP enrollment and were encouraged to increase their overall activity levels in accordance with standard level of care. The baseline activity patterns of were determined during their first week of phase II CRP enrollment. Patients in the experimental group were encouraged to gradually increase their step counts on the days (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; i.e., non-CRP days) they did not attend phase II CRP gradually until they were accumulating 2,000 steps/day above their baseline levels. Two sample t-tests were used to compare the baseline physical characteristics between genders as well as the control and experimental groups. Mean weekly step counts for both groups were compared based on overall and aerobic steps counts accumulated on CRP and non-CRP days using 2 times 7 repeated-measures ANOVAs. Results: At baseline, men took more overall steps than women and all patients took more steps on days they attended the phase II CRP, versus days they did not. There was a significant effect (p < 0.0001) of group assignment and time for overall and aerobic step counts on non-CRP days; as the experimental patients took significantly more steps and increased their step counts at a faster rate than the control patients. There was no significant interaction on CRP days as both groups significantly increased their overall and aerobic steps counts. Conclusion: Phase II CRP patients who used a pedometer and exercise diary significantly increased their overall and aerobic steps counts on CRP and non-CRP days, to a greater extent than patients who received usual care. Thus, pedometers can be used to increase the physical activity levels of phase II CRP patients.