Title : Exercise participation in people with antiphospholipid syndrome : Associations with exercise self-efficacy and illness perception .
Karen Hambly
Introduction : Antiphospholipid syndrome ( APS ) is a systemic autoimmune disease that is associated with increased cardiovascular risk . Exercise has been a cost-effective strategy in the management of other autoimmune conditions with significant physiological and psychological benefits . People with APS could derive substantial health benefits by increasing physical activity but an understanding of the factors that people perceive to be associated with exercise participation has not been elucidated in this population . The aim of this project was to evaluate the associations between exercise participation and exercise self-efficacy and illness perceptions .
Methods : Cross-sectional online survey , 268 participants ( mean age 46.9 ± 11.0 years , 85 % female ) with antiphospholipid syndrome were recruited . Participants self-reported their frequency of exercising . The Exercise Self-Efficacy subscale of the Chronic Disease Self-Efficacy Scale and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire were used to measure exercise self-efficacy and illness perception respectively .
Results : Thirty-one percent of participants reported regular exercise three times a week or more . There were no significant differences in gender or age of participants between the regular exercisers and irregular / non-exercisers . The internal consistency of the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale was high ( a = 0.86 ). Regular exercisers had significantly higher levels of exercise self-efficacy , greater belief that their actions could make a difference to their APS outcome , lower perceived influence of APS on their life and lower expectations of severe symptoms as a result of APS compared with the irregular / non-exercisers .
Conclusions : This study clearly demonstrated that there are relationships between participation in regular exercise , components of illness perception and exercise self-efficacy . Research is needed to further examine and understand these relationships in order to improve illness outcomes for people with APS .
Impact : This research has developed into a project exploring service user current beliefs on exercise participation and their views and perspectives on interventions / strategies aimed at increasing exercise participation . This will provide a rationale for the development of clinical physiotherapy interventions / strategies to increase exercise participation for the benefit of people with APS