2010 Volume 18 Issue 2 Pages 126-135
Objective: To examine the influence of follow-up support for participants who completed an exercise program on the continuation of exercise.
Methods: Participants were sixteen persons who completed an exercise program for individuals with metabolic syndrome over 40 years old. After the completion of the program, we supported participants by telephone calls and home visits for 3months. Participants were tested for weight, BMI, confidence in physical exercise, social support for exercise, health-promoting activities, and contents of physical activity before and after the support. Changes during support were compared with the paired t-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The differences between the continuation (n=6) and the non-continuation (n=10) groups were compared with the 2-sample t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test.
Results: The mean BMI significantly decreased from 23.7(SD2.5) to 23.3(SD2.3) kg/m2(p=0.029) in all participants. In the exercise continuation group, the mean BMI showed a greater downward trend after support, and the mean level of confidence in physical exercise was higher than in the non-continuation group (p=0.049) before support. In addition, in not only the exercise continuation but also the non-continuation group, the mean contents of physical activity significantly increased from 15.6(SD10.6) to 24.5 (SD14.8) (p=0.013) after support.
Conclusion: The results indicate that follow-up support for participants and blood tests to explain about the physical state involving bodyweight measurements, and giving encouragement and praise after the completion of health education, led to an increase in the levels of physical activity.
