[The effects of stage based exercise program on the physical and psychological variables in stroke survivors]

The purpose of this study was to develop the exercise program based on the Transtheoretical Model, and to identify it's effects on physical and psychological variables in stroke survivors.

The subjects of this study were 42 stroke survivors in the preparation and action stages. The stage based exercise program was conducted in the experimental group 8 times for 8 weeks. For data collection, physical conditioning and psychological state were measured and decisional balance and exercise specific self-efficacy were compared within groups.

For the physical conditioning, there were significant improvements in shoulder's range of motion and walking speed. For the psychological state, the mean score of self esteem for the experimental group significantly increased in both stages. The pros of decisional balance increased in the preparation stage and the cons of decisional balance increased in the action stage, but the exercise specific self-efficacy scores were not significantly changed in both stages.

The stage based exercise program using the Transtheoretical Model influenced on the physical and psychological variables positively for the stroke survivors. It was demonstrated that subjects became more active during the intervention.