Examining Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors and Its Relationship with Physical Activity in a Self-Reported Survey

Fernandes, Alroy H., Examining Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors and its Relationship with Physical Activity in a Self-Reported Survey. Masters of Public Health (Community Health), May 2004, 49pp., 3 illustrations, references, 38 titles. This study uses ‘Healthstyles,’ a self reported survey of 3,719 respondents above the age of 18, to look at exercise behavior in people at risk for CHD. Married or higher earning individuals were more likely to show sufficient exercise levels. Individuals with high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, obesity or family history of heart disease reported lesser levels of sufficient exercise than those without these conditions. People with CHD risk factor reported lower scores on questions that dealt with attitude and opinions about exercise behavior, and this was significantly correlated with lower levels of sufficient exercise. This supports the ‘positive attributes of the behavior’ aspect of the social cognitive theory of exercise. The attitude questions used, although not specific, could be included in a self-reported survey for the purpose of qualitatively and quantitatively assessing exercise intervention; albeit more studies are required to validate this claim.