Effect of Evaluative Conditioning on Intensity of Physical Activity of Patients Doing Cardiac Rehabilitation (Cardio'Activ)

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cardiovascular Diseases

Treatments: Behavioral: Evaluative conditioning

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06795802

Local/2023/AP-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

The hypothesis is that, compared to those in the control group (i.e., diet-related evaluative conditioning), participants in the Physical Activity (PA) group (i.e. PA-friendly evaluative conditioning) will exhibit (1) a higher intensity (power setting) on an ergocycle during a free Physical Activity session in their rehabilitation program and (2) A greater increase in the implicit attitude score.

The primary objective will be to evaluate the effect of evaluative conditioning (EC) on the intensity of physical activity produced by post-myocardial infarction patients involved in a cardiac rehabilitation program.The secondary objective of this study will be to evaluate the mediating effect of implicit attitude change in the effect of evaluative conditioning on adopted behaviors.

Full description

More specifically, post-myocardial infarction physical activity has been shown to reduce cardiac morbidity and mortality. Indeed, exercise improves cardiovascular health through mechanisms such as lowering blood pressure, weight reduction, and increased insulin sensitivity. Although there are no formal guidelines for physical activity (PA) after Myocardial Infarction, patients are encouraged to achieve 150 minutes of low-to-moderate intensity PA per week.

Nevertheless, despite the growing body of scientific evidence and the widespread dissemination of information about the benefits of PA, the recommendations have been difficult for post-myocardial infarction patients to comply with. There is evidence to suggest that post-cardiac rehabilitation patients struggle to maintain sustained PA. This may be due to a number of barriers, including fatigue, mood disorders, a lack of motivation, or kinesiophobia.

Continued improvements in monitoring physical activity and the development of policies and programs to increase activity levels appears to be a necessity. This may reduce the burden of physical inactivity and noncommunicable diseases (eg, cardiovascular disease). Therefore, one of the major challenges is to succeed in identifying the main determinants playing a role in the lack of adoption of regular PA. Indeed, targeting these determinants would ultimately allow us to improve the PA promotion strategies already in place for the population. However, maintenance of a practice over time is a complex issue that may be influenced by a multitude of factors. Among these, previous work suggests that the identification of motivational determinants of physical activity represents a relevant research object in this context.

Enrollment: 24 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 75 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Patients must have given written informed consent to participate in the trial
• Patients must be aged18 to 75 years old
• It must be less than 6 months after a first episode of myocardial infarction treated medically or by revascularization

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with a disability preventing the performance of a bimanual test or an ergocycle task
• Patients who are unable to give written informed consent or who have refused to sign the consent form

Trial design

24 participants in 2 patient groups

Diet group

Description:

Patients in this group will receive Evaluative Conditioning favorable to diet. The evaluative conditioning procedure is a learning technique performed on a monitor. It consists of being exposed to the repeated association of an object (conditioned stimulus; in this case, fruit and vegetables) to stimuli with a positive or negative valence (unconditioned stimulus). The total duration of the Evaluative Conditioning is approximately 15 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Evaluative conditioning

Physical Activity group

Description:

Patients in this group will receive Evaluative Conditioning favorable to Physical Activity. Patients in this group will receive Evaluative Conditioning favorable to diet. The evaluative conditioning procedure is a learning technique performed on a monitor. It consists of being exposed to the repeated association of an object (conditioned stimulus; in this case, Physical Activity) to stimuli with a positive or negative valence (unconditioned stimulus). The total duration of the Evaluative Conditioning is approximately 15 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Evaluative conditioning