Patient Readiness to Exercise After Cardiac Surgery: Development of the Readiness to Change Exercise Questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Exercise Science
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Patient adherence to exercise regimens is crucial for recovery after cardiac surgery.
• Accurate assessment of readiness to change is vital for effective intervention strategies.
• A validated scale for measuring exercise readiness in post-cardiac surgery patients was previously unavailable.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and psychometrically evaluate the Readiness to Change Exercise Questionnaire (RC-EQ).
• To adapt the questionnaire for use with Thai patients following cardiac surgery.

Main Methods:

• The RC-EQ was developed using the Transtheoretical Model, literature review, and expert/patient input.
• Psychometric properties were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on data from 533 Thai cardiac surgery patients.
• The study was conducted across 7 hospitals in 4 regions of Thailand.

Main Results:

• CFA confirmed a satisfactory goodness of fit for the 13-item RC-EC.
• A four-factor structure aligned with the Transtheoretical Model's stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, and action.
• Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from .68 to .75, indicating good internal consistency for each factor.

Conclusions:

• The developed scale is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing exercise readiness in Thai cardiac surgery patients.
• The scale effectively categorizes patients into four distinct stages of readiness for exercise.
• Further research is recommended to establish the concurrent and predictive validity of the RC-EC.