Physical activity self-efficacy in patients with metabolic syndrome

• Main Authors: Catherine Bortolon, Martha Wallig Brusius Ludwig, Elisabeth Meyer da Silva, Margareth da Silva Oliveira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculdade Meridional (IMED) 2015-06-01
• Series: Revista de Psicologia da IMED
• Online Access: https://seer.imed.edu.br/index.php/revistapsico/article/view/702

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (SM) is characterized by a set of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and the practice of physical activity (PA) is one of the recommended interventions. The practice of PA is under direct influence of the self-efficacy beliefs (SE). Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the SE in patients with SM and the implicated factors. Method: This cross-sectional study enrolled 62 men and women (30 to 59 years), who were diagnosed with MS. The participants were evaluated in terms of levels of psychiatric symptoms and stress, SE for PA, healthy habits and MS associated factors. Comparison (Student t-test, Mann Whitney or Chi-square) analyses were performed. Results: Results showed that most of the participants present a moderate PA SE, which seems to be related to the levels of stress and symptoms of depression. The number of participants practicing PA in the group Higher SE was bigger than those of the group Lower SE. Conclusions: The present results highlight the important of evaluating SE in participants before any intervention aiming at changing healthy habits and the important of developing interventions targeting psychological aspects.