Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.

Non-UMass Amherst users, please click the view more button below to purchase a copy of this dissertation from Proquest.

(Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Dissertation Collection, so please check there first.)

Cardiac rehabilitation, home -walking, health status, and self -efficacy

Virginia Marie Fidrocki Mason, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America today. The potential onset of cardiovascular disease in the fourth decade for men and fifth decade for women, underscores the scope of the health problem, as the population grows older. Twenty-three percent of men and thirty percent of women who survive a myocardial infarction will have a recurrence within six months. Patients with coronary artery bypass grafts are more susceptible to progressive stenosis from atherosclerosis than native vessels. Secondary prevention through physical activity is recommended by the AHA to reduce the occurrence of these events, requiring expensive re-intervention. However, less than one half of those eligible for cardiac rehabilitation enroll. The purpose of this study is to examine whether cardiac rehabilitation or home-walking with or without nurse telephone support will affect cardiac recovery. A convenience sample of sixty-three cardiac patients self-selected a cardiac rehabilitation (comparison) program in this quasi-experimental research design. One hundred twenty-six surgical cardiac patients were randomized to a home-walking or control group. MANCOVA tests on health status, self-efficacy, and diastolic blood pressure revealed significant differences for the main effect of group on health status, self-efficacy, and diastolic blood pressure (F = 3.980, 16,647, 6.562, p = .020, .000, .011), while controlling for pre-self-efficacy, medical diagnosis, and age. Post hoc tests showed no significant difference between the cardiac rehabilitation and home-walking groups on health status (p = .485) and self-efficacy scales (p = .285). No significant difference was found between the home-walking and control groups on health status ( p = .241). A significant difference was found between the cardiac rehabilitation and control groups on all three dependent variables, respectively (p = .016, .000, .000). The home-walking group revealed a significant difference on self-efficacy from the control group (p = .000). Additional findings include significant differences between home-walking and control groups on physical function (F = 7.3354, p = .0009) and mental health (F = 4.3659, p = .0140). The findings indicate that a home-walking program could be a comparable alternative to a cardiac rehabilitation group by improving self-efficacy and health status and lowering blood pressure.

Subject Area

Nursing|Rehabilitation|Therapy

Recommended Citation

Mason, Virginia Marie Fidrocki, "Cardiac rehabilitation, home -walking, health status, and self -efficacy" (2002). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI3039376.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3039376

Share

COinS