The study assessed the factors that influence sedentary behavior in patients with coronary artery disease based on the HBM. The findings show that the knowledge of sedentary behavior and health belief factors either directly or indirectly affect sedentary behavior in CHD patients. These factors include the knowledge of sedentary behavior, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and health motivation.
Perceived severity was a significant factor influencing the sedentary behavior of CHD patients. Perceived severity describes how people assess the importance of a given illness, taking into account both the clinical (such as pain or death) and social (such as effects on relationships with family and friends) ramifications 27. In this study, it was observed that the higher the perceived severity, the less sedentary time patients with CHD engage in. In addition, perceived severity exerted an indirect influence on sedentary behavior through perceived barriers and self-efficacy. This implies that patients perceive more severe consequences, such as decreased exercise tolerance, associated with coronary heart disease, and consequently reduce their sedentary behavior. Enhancing self-efficacy or reducing perceived barriers can strengthen the adverse impact of perceived severity on sedentary behavior.
Perceived barriers refer to individuals' perceptions of the difficulties associated with adopting healthy behaviors 28. In this research, we found perceived barriers to be one of the strongest predictors of sedentary behavior among the patients with CHD. Similarly, Li Hua et al. in a previous study found that reducing the barriers in taking action may promote the efforts of participants in maintaining a healthy lifestyle 27. Nadrian et al. also reported perceived barriers as the strongest predictor of self-care behaviors among patients with HF 19. Patients with CHD are less likely to strive to alter their sedentary behavior when they perceive greater challenges and barriers. As a result, it's critical to recognize and remove barriers preventing CHD patients from becoming less sedentary. Providing standing tables 29 in walking environment and expanding community activity spaces may be potential solutions.
Another predictor of sedentary behavior among patients with CHD included perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, and health motivation. Patients with higher perceived susceptibility reported lower sedentary behavior. Previous research has indicated that perceived susceptibility has a positive impact on health behavior 27,30. In addition, perceived benefits influence sedentary behavior among patients with CHD. Previous studies showed that health behavior compliance is influenced by patients' perceived benefits31. Therefore, health education on behavior can increase patients' awareness of the risks of prolonged unhealthy behavior and enhance their perception of the benefits of reducing sedentary behavior. Another determinant of sedentary behavior was health motivation. Health motivation has a direct negative effect on sedentary behavior among patients with CHD. This suggests that the more these patients focus on their overall health, the less time they spend on sedentary behavior. Although the influence of health motivation on sedentary behavior is relatively minor in this study, it remains statistically significant. Zhang Xiaoni et al. 32 and Li Hua et al. 27 found that health motivation plays an important role in health behavior. Therefore, encouraging healthy behavior to accelerate overall health and raising patients' awareness of their overall health situation rather than only concentrating on certain diseases is likely one of the most efficient approaches to reducing inactive behavior.
The ability of CHD patients' perceptions of their ability to decrease sedentary behavior was our definition of self-efficacy33. Self-efficacy was the most important directly negative factor for sedentary behavior. Additionally, the mediation role of self-efficacy may not be disregarded on this major path. Our study found a substantial correlation between perceived barriers and self-efficacy. This indicates that the primary focus of the intervention should be the patients' conviction in their ability to overcome the obstacles to decreasing sedentary behavior. Previous studies largely supported the idea that improving patients' self-efficacy can mitigate the positive impact of obstacles on sedentary behavior 34. Moreover, based on our results, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between perceived severity, perceived benefits and sedentary behavior. Huang et al. also reported that self-efficacy played a mediating role between perceived benefits and the level of physical activity among elderly nursing home residents 35. Therefore, strategies like health education to boost self-efficacy may effectively reduce sedentary time among these patients.
Considering the total effect of the independent variables on sedentary behavior in the present study, the knowledge of sedentary behavior had an important effect and was one of the most significant indirect predictors of sedentary behavior in CHD patients, mainly through perceived benefits, perceived severity, and self-efficacy. This finding shows the knowledge of sedentary behavior as the most influential element in enhancing the level of perceived benefits, perceived severity, and self-efficacy among the patients, which is similar to those reported in previous studies 27,36. Therefore, in developing health promotion programs targeted at the sedentary behavior of CHD patients, increasing awareness of sedentary behavior should still be regarded as one of the fundamental categories.
Study Limitation
The study has several limitations. First, the study was cross-sectional. Second, the sample was based on convenience sampling. Future studies need to break through this limitation and make more representative national-level studies of cross-country studies.