Introduction: Maintenance of exercise after completion of a cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) is important to sustain benefits. In the general population, older adults exercise less frequently compared to younger adults.

Purpose: The purpose was to determine if maintenance of exercise 3 times a week after a CRP is different for older and younger men and women and to identify factors related to exercise maintenance.

Design: The study is a secondary analysis; a descriptive longitudinal design was used. Data were collected at baseline (prior to completion of a CRP) and weekly for 48 weeks.

Method: The primary study was a randomized control study that examined the effect of an intervention to increase exercise maintenance after a CRP. A convenience sample of 248 adults aged 38-86 recovering from a cardiac event and who completed a 12 week cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) was used to compare exercise maintenance between men and women age less than 60, age 61-70, and age greater than 70. Exercise patterns were recorded by heart rate monitor wristwatches worn during exercise for 48 weeks following a CRP.

Results: Survival analysis techniques were used and an exercise cessation event was recorded as the week following the last time that a participant did not exercise 3 times a week. Men over 70 years of age stopped exercising significantly sooner than younger men (<60 X = 32.6 weeks; 61-70 X = 34.3 weeks; >70 X = 24.9 weeks, Log Rank = 6.29, P = .04). Using Cox proportional hazards model, age, self-efficacy and depressed mood were significant predictors of exercise maintenance for men. Although there were no significant differences in exercise among women of different age groups, younger women stopped exercising at a mean of 22 weeks and older women at a mean of 28 weeks. Younger African American women were more likely to stop exercising sooner than all other women. In general, after participation in a 12 week CRP that emphasized exercise, less than 37% of the sample continued to exercise a minimum of 3 times per week 12 months after completion of the program.

Conclusions: No differences in exercise maintenance between older and younger women; but older men stopped exercising 3 times a week sooner than younger men. For men, interventions to increase maintenance that include self-efficacy and attention to mood after a CRP are needed to assist with the continuation of exercise.