Exercise compliance and health outcome in a chronic disease management programme

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine if exercise compliance or non-compliance with a chronic disease management programme (CDM programme) influenced shifts measured in clinical parameters over a period of 12 months. A retrospective analysis was done on data collected (30 months) from 206 men and 194 women (medical aid scheme members) participating in a CDM programme. Hypertension and/or hyperlipidemia and/or diabetes mellitus (type 2) were inclusion criteria. Clinical parameters, i.e. blood pressure, blood lipid levels, blood glucose levels, body mass index, body fat percentage and cardiac risk percentages were measured every three months. Exercise compliance was defined as exercising twice a week. Results indicated that the exercise compliance trend decreased drastically over time. Statistically significant decreases were demonstrated in systolic (Month 3, p = 0.007) and diastolic (Month 6, p = 0.012) blood pressure, body mass index (Month 6, p = 0.072 and Month 12, p = 0.000), cardiac risk percentage (Month 6, p = 0.003) and body weight (Month 6, p = 0.003 and Month 12, p=0.000) in the exercise compliant group. In conclusion, compliance with the CDM programme of two sessions per week was sufficient for deriving significant physical health benefits. It is recommended that future studies measure blood pressure and cholesterol more frequently, and that dietary fat intake be monitored.