DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION, AND RELIABILITY OF THE PERSONALIZED EXERCISE QUESTIONNAIRE (PEQ) TO ASSESS EXERCISE FACILITATORS, BARRIERS AND PREFERENCES IN PEOPLE WITH OSTEOPENIA OR OSTEOPOROSIS

Abstract

One in three women and one in five men will experience a fracture due to osteoporosis in their lifetime. The clinical significance of osteoporosis is largely due to increased fracture rates, particularly in the hip and spine, that may lead to immobility and subsequent hospitalization. This may increase the risk of cardiac complications, pneumonia and pulmonary embolism, significantly impacting in-hospital mortality. It is a major health issue, with an osteoporotic fracture occurring every 3 seconds worldwide. Exercise is often recommended for people with osteoporosis and has been shown to maintain bone mass and reduce falls with fewer side effects. Although exercise has multiple benefits, adherence to this activity is poor, with 50% of those registered in a program dropping out within the first 6 months. One method to increase adherence to exercise is to identify the facilitators, barriers and preferences to physical activity. Identification of these facilitators and barriers may allow researchers and clinicians to design better exercise programs that increase motivation. This dissertation discusses the development of a new tool that can measure the factors that affect exercise adherence and calculates the content and construct validity and the test-retest reliability of the measure in the osteoporosis population. This tool has potential applications in both the research setting and in clinical practice. Investigators can use this tool to survey their population of interest and use this information to leverage the facilitators and limit the barriers in their methodologies when designing activity programs, while clinicians can identify and design better exercise prescriptions for individual clients.