Exercise stages of change among Hispanics

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of an intervention based on the Exercise Stages of Change model in increasing the self-reported physical activity and exercise self-efficacy of currently sedentary Hispanics who are interested in starting an exercise program. Data were collected on 57 Hispanics who were assigned to either the tailored group (n = 27) or the standard group (n = 28). The tailored group was given an intervention based largely on principles of behavior change according to one's level of readiness, as assessed by the Exercise Stages of Change instrument. The standard group was given an intervention that was based upon the American College of Sports Medicine traditional standards. Data were collected on 11 variables, which included age, gender, ethnicity, education level, acculturation status, pre and posttest exercise stage of change score, pre and posttest exercise self-efficacy scores, and pre and posttest total self-efficacy scores. A comparison of the exercise stage of change scores for both the tailored and standard groups was done by the Stuart-Maxwell Test for Correlated Proportions. This test of proportions indicated that the tailored intervention subjects were significantly more active after the intervention than the standard intervention subjects.