This retrospective study was designed to: (a) identify factors predictive of physical activity following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery; (b) determine if these predictors were different for men and women; and (c) to examine the relationship between participation in cardiac rehabilitation and subsequent physical activity. Adoption of a physically active lifestyle has been recommended for secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. A better understanding of factors related to long-term physical activity could improve the effectiveness of nursing interventions.

The Health Promotion Model proposed by Pender (1987) served as the conceptual basis of the study. One hundred four randomly selected post-CABG patients, 46 men and 70 women consented to participate in this study. Demographically, 88.5% were white, 70.1% were married, and 83.7% were high school graduates. Mean age of participants was 63.24 years. Subjects participated in the study from 12 to 77 months after CABG surgery and 40% reported having participated in some outpatient cardiac rehabilitation. Following verbal consent, data were collected during phone interviews and via mailed questionnaire. Step-wise multiple regression analyses were used to identify significant predictor variables for the entire sample and for the male and female subgroups for five physical activity indices: total physical activity, leisure time physical activity, indoor household activity, indoor and outdoor household activity, and exercise and sports activity.

For the total study sample, perceived benefits of exercise predicted total activity; perceived benefits of exercise and male sex predicted leisure-time activity; perceived benefits of exercise, male sex, and amount overweight predicted exercise and sports activity; female sex and social support predicted indoor household activity; and female sex and internal locus of control predicted indoor and outdoor household activity. However, when male and female groups were compared, some important differences in predictor variables were identified for household activity, and exercise and sports activity. No significant relationship was noted between weeks of participation in cardiac rehabilitation and subsequent physical activity.

The results of this study suggest that gender differences should be considered when designing strategies to increase participation in exercise and sports activities and household activities for post-CABG patients. In addition, the effect of cardiac rehabilitation on subsequent physical activity of post-CABG patients needs additional investigation.