Facilitators and barriers to perform physical activity in patients post-heart transplantation: a qualitative study

Most patients experience barriers for becoming physical active post-heart transplantation. Therefore, identifying barriers and facilitators can help healthcare professionals in developing physical activity programmes. This study aimed to explore the physical activity experiences, perceived barriers, and facilitators to perform physical activity of patients' post-heart transplantation.

A qualitative study was carried out using in-depth semi-structured interviews on 24 patients post-heart transplantation from October to December 2022. The data were analysed using an inductive strategy for finding emerging themes. NVivo 12.0 software was used to analyse the data. The physical activity experiences included that (i) patients felt that they had to adapt to a new situation after the heart transplantation, (ii) walking was a popular physical activity preferably outdoors, (iii) participants preferred to perform physical activity regularly with others, and (iv) they felt better since they perform physical activity. The facilitators were: (i) desire to live; (ii) experiencing physical benefits; (iii) being physically active with others; (iv) use of mobility assistive devices resources. The barriers were: (i) feeling not being able to perform former physical activity; (ii) complications and experiencing symptoms post-heart transplantation; (iii) unfavourable climate.

Patients post-heart transplantation has various facilitators influencing their post-transplant experience to perform physical activity. Key facilitators include the desire to live, physical benefits, social activity, and external support. Yet, they also face barriers like lost abilities, post-transplant complications, and environmental challenges.