Health related hardiness: The influence on successful cardiac rehabilitation

This study examined the relationship between hardiness and success in patients who completed a cardiac rehabilitation program. The problem of the study was whether health related hardiness was predictive of success in patients who completed a cardiac rehabilitation program.;The framework used was Pollock's health related hardiness as derived from Kobasa's original hardiness theory. Hardiness was accepted as being composed of three concepts: control, commitment, and challenge. Pollock defined the hardiness characteristic in relation to health and health stressors.;The method of research was ex post facto nonexperimental. The setting was a hospital based cardiac rehabilitation program. The length of the program was twelve weeks. A non probability sample of convenience comprised the sample of 60 subjects. A demographic questionnaire and the Health Related Hardiness Scale (HRHS) were completed. Exercise tolerance (MET) was measured in terms of energy used in a treadmill test or by the exercise physiologist. The subjects completed the cardiac rehabilitation program. Exercise tolerance was again measured to determine if the subject improved, demonstrating success in the program.;A dependent t-test was performed to determine that there was an increase in exercise tolerance. A multiple regression was performed using the HRHS scores as the independent variable and post-rehabilitation MET scores as dependent variables. A determination was made there was no significant relationship between HRHS scores and post-rehabilitation MET scores in this study.;A multiple regression was performed with selected demographic variables as independent variables and HRHS scores and post-rehabilitation MET scores as dependent variables. Risk factors, income, and marital status accounted for almost half of the variance in the post-rehabilitation MET scores. Cardiac history was predictive of HRHS scores.;A multiple regression was completed to examine the relationship between the HRHS and risk factors on gender. The demographic variable of gender approached significance in predicting risk factors of coronary heart disease.;Needs for additional research were identified in the areas of: intervening variables on health related hardiness and post-rehabilitation MET scores; patients activity in relation to limitations of their disease process; and cardiac risk factors in relation to gender and minorities.