Abstract P1125: Targeted Health Coaching Intervention to Improve Physical Activity and Physical Function Post-Structured Cardiac Rehabilitation Programming Among Older Adults: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Attending cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves fitness and quality of life and decreases the risk of future death from heart disease. Unfortunately, once an individual finishes a CR program, continued participation in physical activity (PA) too often reverts to previous sedentary patterns and is even more prevalent among older adults. Thus, this pilot study tested the feasibility of a health coaching intervention to improve PA and physical function after CR among older adults. Hypothesis: Compared to education alone, we hypothesized that health coaching would maintain or improve PA participation and physical function 3 months after CR completion. Methods: A total of 13 older adults who graduated from CR were randomized to either an education or health coaching group for 3 months. The education group received one 30-minute education session within the first month of randomization. The health coaching group received 6 health coaching sessions across the 3-month study duration. Both groups received a Garmin wrist-worn device and step goal ranging from 5,000-8,000 steps per day based on baseline step count. The Senior Fitness Test assessed physical function at baseline and 3 months. Paired t -tests were used to test within-group differences in mean change of outcomes and independent t -tests were used to test between-group differences in mean change of outcomes. Results: Participants were on average 70.8 + 7.0 years old, white (84.6%), and female (61.5%). Average step count adherence was 110.4% + 26.8% and 102.7% + 18.1% for the health coaching and education groups, respectively. Regardless of group, participants significantly improved their waist circumference (-3.3 + 4.4 cm; p = 0.019), chair stands (2.0 + 2.4; p = 0.015), arm curls (2.0 + 2.0; p = 0.005), and 2-minute steps (4.8 + 7.3; p = 0.043). Participants increased their average daily step count by 1194 + 1641 and 545 + 1762 in the health coaching and education groups, respectively. There were no significant between-group differences in this small sample. Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrates utilizing health coaching and education to maintain or increase PA and physical function 3 months after CR is feasible. Future studies should employ a similar approach among a larger sample size to determine the relative efficacy and effectiveness of health coaching and education on PA and physical function after CR amongst older adult populations.