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Excerpt
The primary objective of the study was to examine whether individual patients (pts) differed in their readiness to change across four behavioral domains of cardiovascular rehabilitation (exercise, diet, weight management, & smoking). Pts referred to participate in cardiac rehab programs were asked to complete a 33-item self administered questionnaire (with previously validated scales). Based on their responses pts were assigned to a "stage of readiness" to change for each of the four domains. A pts' "stage of readiness" was determined based on the stages of change theory which describes a series of stages that an individual progresses through when changing/attempting to change a behavior (the 5 stages are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, & maintenance). Of the 93 pts who completed the questionnaire, 23% (21) were found to be "not ready" (referring to pts in the precontemplation or contemplation stage) to change 2 of the 4 behaviors. When more restrictive criteria were used to assess pts' readiness to change, 60% (56) of the pts were "not ready" (referring to pts in the precontemplation, contemplation, or preparation stage) to change 2 of the 4 behaviors. These findings suggest that the current action-oriented model of cardiac rehab was inappropriate for 23%-60% of the pts entering such programs (an action-oriented model assumes the patient is "ready" to change across all domains). Furthermore, the results suggest that based on the stages of change theory, the efficacy of cardiac rehab could be enhanced by tailoring the domains of rehab programs to match pts' readiness to change.
