Predictors of compliance with diet and exercise six months after heart transplantation

Patients are often noncompliant with health care regimens, which can result in increased morbidity and mortality. Reduced compliance rates with prescriptions for diet and exercise after heart transplantation may contribute to obesity and hyperlipidemia. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to examine patient compliance with diet and exercise prescriptions 6 months after heart transplantation, guided by the Health Belief Model.;Using a correlational design, a nonrandom sample (n = 94) was selected from the pool of heart transplant patients at two medical centers (midwestern and southern) who agreed to participate in a larger study of quality of life. The sample of 6-month post heart transplant patients had a mean age of 55 years and was primarily male, married, and fairly well educated. The sample had normal heart function at 6 postoperative months.;The sixteen independent variables (operationalized within the framework of the second generation Health Belief Model) were: stress (self-care and psychological), perception of health, functional disability (physiologic and psychosocial), symptoms (gastrointestinal, neuromuscular, and dermatologic), age, gender, number of medications, difficulty with compliance, satisfaction with health/functioning, helpfulness of health care provider interventions, satisfaction with social support, and effectiveness of coping. Preliminary reliability and validity data were supported for the instruments. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression were used to analyze the data.;The majority of patients ;The study of heart transplant patient dietary and exercise compliance will enhance patient care and may alter the development of post transplant morbidity and mortality.