Patient education
Increasing physical activity in patients with mental illness—A randomized controlled trial

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2015.06.006Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Patients with mental illness could increase their level of physical activity.

  • Fifty five percent of the intervention group achieved the criterion of 150 min/week of activity.

  • Patients of the intervention and control group were able to elaborate action plans.

Abstract

Objective

The objective of the study was to evaluate whether a motivational–volitional intervention program offered in addition to an existing sport program during stationary treatment is capable of establishing a post-stationary increase in physical activity in persons with mental illness.

Methods

N = 112 in-patients were initially randomly assigned to the control group (CG; standard rehabilitation) or intervention group (IG; standard rehabilitation plus intervention). Assessments were conducted at four measurement points.

Results

At 6 months follow up, the level of exercise in the IG was 95 min/week higher than in the CG (p = .02). The participants of the IG were able to increase their level of goal intention until 6 months follow up (t2: p = .03; t4: p = .005); levels of self-efficacy of the IG increased during intervention (t2: p = .001). Changes in volitional aspects were significant over time (t1–t3), but not specifically for the IG.

Conclusions

The intervention was effective at increasing the level of physical activity in patients with mental illness who were initially minimally active.

Practice implications

Our results suggest that it could be of great use to place the emphasis of a physical activity-enhancing intervention on its motivational effect since volitional aspects are already taken into sufficient account in standard rehabilitation.

Section snippets

Introduction: Background and objectives

In 2010, more than one-third (38.2%) of all residents of the European Union suffered from a clinically significant mental disorder [1]. The most common disorders named were anxiety disorders, unipolar depression, insomnia, and somatoform disorders. People with severe mental disorders often suffer from chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or other chronic conditions [2]. Reasons for these conditions, among genetics and medication, are seen in higher prevalence of smoking,

Design and participants

Participants were randomized in a controlled, parallel-group study comparing the effects of standard rehabilitation (control group, CG) versus standard rehabilitation plus ‘MoVo–Luise’ intervention (intervention group, IG; MoVo refers to the theoretical background of the Motivation Volition process model, Luise refers to the name of the study hospital) between November 2011 and September 2012. The study was approved by the ethical committee of the Freiburg University Medical Center, Germany

Results

As depicted in Fig. 1, n = 735 persons were assessed for eligibility, and n = 112 persons participated in the randomization procedure (intent-to-treat-sample). n = 36 persons could be included in the CG and n = 29 persons could be included in the IG. Dropout analyses revealed no significant differences between the intent-to-treat sample and t1–t4-dropouts on all variables. Table 1 shows baseline demographics and clinical characteristics for each group.

Analyses of variance yielded a significant

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of MoVo–Luise on patients with mental disorders, an intervention based on the MoVo process model [18]. The main features of the intervention have already been proven in settings with orthopedic rehabilitation as well as with obese patients [18], [22], [32].

As expected, the results of the analyses suggest that the MoVo–Luise intervention was effective at increasing the level of physical activity in patients with mental disorders who were

Conflict of interest statement

The second author is employed as a psychologist at the study clinic.

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