Barriers to physical activity and patient profiling in the lifelong maintenance phase of coronary artery disease: a territorial mixed-methods pilot study
Mixed-methods pilot study identifies barriers to physical activity and distinct patient profiles in coronary artery disease, suggesting personalized interventions.
Key Points
Nine barrier categories to physical activity were identified, with environmental and motivational factors emerging as the most significant barriers for patients.
Patients were categorized into three distinct profiles based on barriers: deconditioning, environmental/motivational constraints, and organizational limitations.
Unsupervised machine learning techniques were employed to analyze patient responses and identify homogeneous subgroups based on barrier patterns.
Personalized intervention strategies could improve long-term adherence to physical activity among patients in the lifelong maintenance phase of cardiac rehabilitation.