Effect of feedback in promoting adherence to an exercise programme: a randomized controlled trial.

We investigated whether providing participants in an exercise programme with regular feedback on their exercise progress affected their adherence to the programme regimen. We conducted a randomized controlled trial. Adult men and women with borderline hypertension and a body mass index ≥ 25.0 were randomized to two intervention groups (groups A and B) and one control group (group C) and were prescribed regular aerobic exercise. During the 12-week study period, group A was provided with both feedback information on their exercise progress and a health letter, while group B was provided with the health letter only. The main outcome measure was exercise performance, per cent achievement of target exercise level (%) defined as the number of weeks during which the exercise target was reached divided by the number of weeks in the programme. Results were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. A total of 105 study subjects were randomized into three groups (A, n = 37; B, n = 37 and C, n = 31). Per cent achievement of target exercise level during the 12-week period was highest in group A (26.5%), followed by groups B (22.9%) and C (17.4%) ( P = 0.36). Subjects who received regular feedback during the exercise programme tended to have higher exercise performance. In improving adherence to exercise intervention, the provision of regular feedback to participants in an exercise programme may be an effective intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]