The psychological effect of exercise training on patients after a myocardial infarction. A pilot study

Most studies of exercise training in patients who have had a heart attack have concentrated on the influence such programmes have on physiological recovery rather than on possible psychological benefits. In order to study the latter, a group of 16 patients participating in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme run by the Cape Western Branch of the Heart Foundation of Southern Africa were asked to complete the Cattell Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire on entry to the programme and again 6 months later. Eight patients participated regularly in the programme for the full 6 months (the exercising group), while the other 8 (the control group) 'dropped out' within the first few weeks and remained physically inactive for the remainder of the 6 months. It was found that there were no differences in the personality profiles of the exercising and control groups on admission to the rehabilitation programme. Both groups exhibited considerable psychological impairment--in particular they were emotionally unstable with high levels of apprehension, tension and depression. Six months later the control group showed a further worsening as regards levels of depression and emotional stability, with a small reduction (2%) in tension and a small increase (1%) in imaginativeness. In contrast, the exercising group showed significantly large reductions in depression (10%) and tension (14%) levels, and marked increases in emotional stability (14%) and imaginativeness (12%). We conclude that attendance at the programme played an important role in normalizing their psychological constitutions.