Efecto de un Programa de actividad física sobre la autoestima en sujetos con enfermedades crónicas. Ensayo de intervención comunitaria «Pas a Pas»

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of a 9 months of supervised Physical Activity (PA) Program with sociocultural activities, on self-esteem and its association on the control of chronic diseases in adult primary care users. DESIGN: Multicenter, randomized, controlled community intervention. LOCATION: 4 Primary care centers in Reus-Tarragona, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: 364 subjects, randomized to the Control Group (CG = 104) and Intervention Group (IG = 260). INTERVENTION: Supervised walking program of 120 min/week with sociocultural activities once a month. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: At baseline and at post-intervention we assessed: PA (IPAQ-S), self-esteem (Rosenberg scale) and cardiovascular indicators: smoking, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, serum LDL and HDL cholesterol, and serum glucose. Sociodemographic characteristics and diagnostic of chronic diseases are recorded. RESULTS: The Program increased the PA in the IG (P = .001), while it decreased in the CG (P = .002), and also the self-esteem in the group of participants (1.28 points, P = .006) and in the groups with diagnoses of hypertension (1.60 points, P = .005), dyslipidemia (1.62 points, P = .012), excess weight (1.24 points, P = .011) or anxiety/depression (1.53 points, P = .045), assessed by multivariate statistical models. The increase in self-esteem during the intervention decreased SBP −0.5 mmHg (P = .030) in the hypertension group, regardless of baseline SBP and the effect of the intervention. CONCLUSION: The PA program increased the PA and self-esteem in adult primary care users. The increase of self-esteem improved the control of SBP in hypertensive patients.