Adherence to exercise scale for older patients (AESOP): A measure for predicting exercise adherence in older adults after discharge from home health physical therapy

Purpose: To develop a measure of 3 social cognitive theory constructs (self-efficacy expectations, outcome expectations, and outcome expectancies) for predicting home exercise program (HEP) adherence in older adults after discharge from home health physical therapy. Methods: A questionnaire was developed, pilot-tested, and administered to 50 participants (mean age 79.9 years, range 65-91 years) who were being discharged from home health physical therapy on a HEP. Participants also completed the 12-item Short-form Health Survey (SF-12), Mini Mental State Examination, and short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Participants reported level of adherence to the HEP at 1 month. Results: There was a strong positive response bias for all 42 items comprising the questionnaire. Two constructs (self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations) demonstrated test-retest reliability, while the third (outcome expectancies) did not. There was no association between any of the 3 constructs and the 2 scales of the SF-12. Participants' scores on the questionnaire did not predict HEP adherence. Conclusion: While previous studies have shown that questionnaires based on social cognitive theory constructs predict exercise adherence in community-dwelling older adults, the current study did not establish this relationship in older adults after discharge from home health physical therapy. Future research should address scaling issues.