Abstract

Healthy eating, physical activity, stress management, and smoking cessation are widely recognized as essential for preventing and treating coronary artery disease (CAD). Research on lifestyle programs for patients with CAD has largely focused on long-term interventions (e.g., several months to one-year in duration). Further, many studies have recruited patients immediately post-cardiac event. By contrast, evaluation of brief lifestyle interventions for stable patients treated in outpatient cardiology is lacking. The present study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a 3-session behavioral health lifestyle program for patients with stable CAD being treated in an outpatient cardiology clinic. Thirty-three patients were randomized to the Intervention Group (IG) or to Treatment as Usual (TAU). Outcome measures were assessed at Post-treatment (two-weeks after Baseline) and at 30-day Follow-up. Reliable change and parametric analyses were used to evaluate study outcomes. Results indicated that the program was both feasible and acceptable to patients, as determined by a priori criteria: over 60 percent of referred and eligible patients agreed to participate, over 75 percent of consented IG participants completed the program through 30-day Follow-up, and over 80 percent of participants reported that they would recommend the program to other patients. With regard to treatment outcomes, data from 28 participants were available. Reliable change analyses revealed that at both Post-treatment and 30-day Follow-up, significantly more IG than TAU participants exhibited an increase in self-efficacy as compared with Baseline. There were no observed between-group differences on other study measures, though repeated-measures ANOVAs were underpowered. Overall, results support the feasibility and acceptability of brief lifestyle interventions in outpatient cardiology care and highlight the role of behavioral health providers on integrated cardiology care teams in helping to increase patient self-efficacy in managing chronic disease.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2019

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Cassisi, Jeffrey

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology; Clinical Psychology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0007876

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007876

Language

English

Release Date

December 2019

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Download

Share

COinS