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Objective: to validate the content of persuasive messages for promoting walking among patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The messages were constructed to strengthen or change patients' attitudes to walking., Method: the selection of persuasive arguments was based on behavioral beliefs (determinants of attitude) related to walking. The messages were constructed based in the Elaboration Likelihood Model and were submitted to content validation., Results: the data was analyzed with the content validity index and by the importance which the patients attributed to the messages' persuasive arguments. Positive behavioral beliefs (i.e. positive and negative reinforcement) and self-efficacy were the appeals which the patients considered important. The messages with validation evidence will be tested in an intervention study for the promotion of the practice of physical activity among patients with CHD.

Objective: to analyze the action and coping plans related to the behavior of adhering to drug therapy, developed by coronary heart disease (CHD) outpatients, and to identify the barriers perceived to adopting this behavior., Methods: the participants (n=59) were invited to formulate action plans and coping plans for the behavior of adhering to the cardio-protective medications and the symptom-relief medications., Results: specific action plans for taking the medications associated with temporal markers and the sleep-wake cycle were shown. The most frequently reported obstacles were forgetfulness and absence of routine in daily living activities. The coping plans for overcoming forgetfulness were the most specific., Conclusion: this study's findings support the application of implementation intentions aimed at optimizing adherence to drug therapy among patients with CHD.

Aim: To evaluate the psychometric Instrument to Measure the Impact of Coronary Disease on Patient's Everyday Life (IDCV) when applied on patients with coronary disease being followed at an outpatient clinic., Methods: One hundred and fifty-three patients with coronary disease were registered. Patients were analysed in terms of acceptability, ceiling and floor effect, reliability (using Cronbach's alpha coefficient) and convergent construct validity (by means of Spearman correlation) between the domains of IDCV and of 'Medical Outcomes Trust Short-form Health Survey (SF-36)' and 'MacNew Heart Disease Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire'., Results: Evidence was found for high acceptability of IDCV. No evidence was found for ceiling and floor effects regarding the total score of IDCV; however, ceiling and floor effects were found from the adjustment to the disease domain. Evidence was found for reliability of the instrument as a whole and for its domains (Cronbach's α ranged between 0·70-0·85). Similar domains on the IDCV, MacNew and SF-36 were correlated: Physical impact - symptoms on the IDCV with the physical function domain on MacNew (r = -0·64) and with most domains on the SF-36 related to the physical dimension; Social impact and emotional impact on the IDCV with emotional function (r = -0·53) and social function (r = -0·55) on the MacNew and mental health on SF-36 (r = -0·55). However, smaller correlations of moderate/high magnitude were found between different constructs entre: Social and emotional impact on the IDCV with physical function on the MacNew (r = -0·56) and with the following domains: Functional capacity (r = -0·50), general health (r = -0·52) and vitality (r = -0·50) on SF-36., Conclusion: The IDCV is an instrument with evidence regarding reliability and convergent validity also for the population of patients with coronary disease. Further studies to validate its factor structure could offer contributions for understanding the psychometric performance of the IDCV among patients with coronary disease., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, ceiling and floor effects, reliability, and convergent construct validity of the Brazilian version of the Mini Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida en la Hipertensión Arterial (MINICHAL). The study included 200 hypertensive outpatients in a university hospital and a primary healthcare unit. The MINICHAL was applied in 3.0 (± 1.0) minutes with 100% of the items answered. A "ceiling effect" was observed in both dimensions and in the total score, as well as evidence of measurement stability (ICC=0.74). The convergent validity was confirmed by significant positive correlations between similar dimensions of the MINICHAL and the SF-36, and significant negative correlations with the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire - MLHFQ, however, correlations between dissimilar constructs were also observed. It was concluded that the Brazilian version of the MINICHAL presents evidence of reliability and validity when applied to hypertensive outpatients.

Behavior and motivation for physical activity (PA) were assessed among 144 coronary heart disease outpatients according to the sociodemographic and clinical profile. The sample was predominantly male (63.9%), with 59.4(± 8.8) years, with low levels of monthly income and schooling. Behavior and Habitual PA measures revealed sedentary lifestyle with high motivation for future PA. Women, patients with history of angina and non-smokers reported lower levels of behavior and motivation. Higher age, lower income, lower number of associated conditions, less time since last coronary syndrome and higher values of BMI were associated to lower levels of PA. The findings suggest that the pattern of PA and motivation vary among CHD outpatients according to sociodemographic and clinical profile, information that should be considered in educational interventions.

The objective of the present study was to perform the cultural adaptation of The Environmental Stressor Questionnaire-ESQ for the Brazilian Portuguese, as well as to verify its reliability and validity. In order to ensure the equivalence between the original instrument and the Brazilian version, all methodological steps recommended in the literature regarding cultural adaptation were followed. The Brazilian version of the ESQ was applied to 106 ICU patients in two hospitals (public and private) in the interior of São Paulo State. Reliability was evaluated in relation to internal consistency and stability (test e retest) and the convergent validity was determined by the correlation between ESQ and generic questions about ICU stress. Reliability was satisfactory with Cronbach's Alfa = 0.94 and stability (ICC = 0.861; IC 95% 0.723; 0.933). ESQ total score displayed strong correlation with the generic questions about stress (r = 0.70; p < 0.0001), thus confirming the convergent validity. The conclusion was that the ESQ adapted for Brazilian culture is a reliable instrument for evaluation of stressors in the ICU.

This study aimed to carry out an integrative literature review on the effectiveness of interventions in physical activity (PA) practice in the general population. The search was carried out in articles indexed in online databases: Scopus, CINAHL and Medline. Studies in English or Brazilian Portuguese were included, with evidence levels 2 or 3, published between 2004 and 2008. The final sample consisted of 14 studies. In 57.1% of the studies, interventions were effective for behavior change to practice PA. The diversity of target populations, assessment instruments and intervention designs makes it difficult to compare results and build evidence on the effectiveness of interventions for PA promotion.