PURPOSE: Maintenance of exercise after completing phase II cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is challenging for many patients. We offered a telephone-based maintenance intervention and found improvement in exercise participation in the intervention group at 12 months post-CR discharge. We examined the effects of the intervention on psychosocial outcomes. METHODS: The effects of a home-based exercise maintenance intervention on psychosocial outcomes among patients who had completed phase II CR versus contact control were evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. Data were collected in 2005 to 2010 and analyzed in 2011. One hundred thirty patients (mean age 63.6 (SD 9.7) years, 20.8% female) were randomized to exercise counseling (maintenance counseling group, n = 64) or contact control (contact control group, n = 66). Maintenance counseling group participants received exercise counseling (based on the transtheoretical model and social-cognitive theory) delivered via telephone for 6 months, as well as print materials and feedback reports. Assessments of depression, quality of life, and mental health were conducted at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. RESULTS: The maintenance counseling group reported statistically significant higher quality of life than the contact control group at 6 months (b = 0.29, SE = 0.08, p < 0.001) and 12 months (b = 0.27, SE = 0.09, p = 0.002). Intervention effects on depressive symptoms were significant at 12 months (b = -6.42, SE = 2.43, p = 0.009). Effects on overall mental health were nonsignificant at both followups. No significant moderators of treatment effects were found. CONCLUSION: A telephone-based intervention that helped maintain exercise showed statistically significant improvements in quality of life and reduced depressive symptoms in this patient population.
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