Just how special are the physical activity cognitions in diseased populations? Preliminary evidence for integrated content in chronic disease prevention and rehabilitation

Background: The extant literature is building on subdividing physical activity (PA) correlates and interventions by health condition (e.g., diabetes, cancer, etc.). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the mean values and correlations of a population sample divided by mutually exclusive health condition status ("nondiseased," cardiovascular disease and risk factors, cancer, diabetes, and arthritis) on theory of planned behavior beliefs and physical activity after adjusting for sociodemographic factors. The relationship between compounding health conditions/comorbidities and these beliefs with PA was also evaluated. Methods: Participants were a U.S. sample of 6,739 adults (M age = 49.65, SD = 16.04) who completed relevant social and medical demographics, measures of behavioral, normative, and control beliefs, and self-reported PA. Results: Mean analyses identified greater health barriers to P A for the arthritis population compared to the other groups (η² > .025), whereas physician norms and health barriers were higher for compounding health condition populations compared to the nondiseased group (η² > .025). Belief-behavior correlations, however, were not different across health conditions (q < .19), and nondiseased and single disease populations had larger control belief-behavior correlations than those populations with compounding health conditions (q > .19). Conclusions: These data generally provide preliminary evidence for an integrated approach to P A promotion content in primary prevention and health rehabilitation with some possible tailoring in the areas of health barriers. This area of research will benefit from future studies that build off of these results.