Self-determined motivational health coaching ('SAMI') during outpatient treatment to promote physical activity of people with serious mental illness: a pilot controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Brief motivational coaching, integrated into health care; seems promising to address physical inactivity of people with serious mental illness (SMI).

AIMS

To test the impact of a self-determined health coaching approach (the "SAMI" intervention) during outpatient mental health treatment on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) of people with SMI.

METHODS

Adults (mean age = 41.9, SD = 10.9) with an ICD-10 diagnosis of mental illness were semi-randomized to the SAMI-intervention group (IG) or control group (CG). The IG received 30 minutes of health coaching based on the self-determination theory (SDT). MVPA and sedentary time (ST) were measured with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire - short form (IPAQ-SF) and symptoms of mental illness with the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18), each at baseline and follow-up (3-4 months). Differences in primary (MVPA) and secondary (ST, BSI-18) outcomes were evaluated using negative binomial regressions and general linear models.

RESULTS

In the IG (

CONCLUSIONS

Brief self-determined health coaching during outpatient treatment could increase post-treatment MVPA in people with SMI, potentially up to a clinically relevant level. However, great uncertainty (for all outcomes) weakens the assessment of clinical relevance.