Impact of a transtheoretical model on the psychosocial factors affecting exercise among workers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise intervention on improvement of perceived exercise benefit, perceived exercise barrier, and exercise self-efficacy. A quasi- experimental design was utilized and purposive sampling was conducted at a telecom worksite in southern Taiwan. One hundred and ninety-three subjects were assigned to an experimental and a control group. The experimental group, which consisted of 133 subjects, participated in a program of exercise intervention. The intervention program applied a transtheoretical model to aid subjects in developing effective approaches within different stages of the exercise change. It included written materials and teaching activities for the different stages of exercise. The control group, which consisted of 60 subjects, had no treatment. All subjects completed a structured questionnaire, including perceived exercise benefits, perceived exercise barriers, exercise self-efficacy, and stages of exercise, pre-test and post-test. Statistical analyses included Chi-square test, paired t-test, analysis of covariance, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe's post hoc comparison. After the exercise intervention, the results post-test of the experimental group showed that (1) perceived exercise benefit, perceived exercise barriers, and exercise self-efficacy improved significantly, and (2) perceived exercise benefit and exercise self-efficacy were significantly higher than those of the control group post-test while perceived exercise barriers were significantly lower than those of the control group post-test.