Influencing Factors on the Stages of Change of Exercise in Patients with

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the factors affecting the stages of exercise behaviors changes of low back pain patients. Methods: The participants in this study were 220 low back pain patients who have been treated by therapeutic exercise or had the exercise treatment under the doctor's advice. The tools used for this study were the stages of exercise behavior change, intrinsic motivation questionnaires, and physical activity social support scale (PASS). Results: The group that did exercise (preparation stage, maintenance stage, action stage) was 75.9 % but the group that did not exercise (precontemplation stage, contemplation stage) was 24.1%. Social supports from family members and friends and motivation affected the exercise behaviors changes. And 34.6% of the exercise behavior change can be explained by the social support (family, friend) and motivation. Conclusion: There were two recommendations for maintaining the exercise behaviors of low back pain patients based on theo-retical background. First, we recommended more exercise programs which reinforce social supports from family and friend for constant exercise behaviors of low back pain patients. Second, more exercise programs for the low back pain patients who have similar health goals or problems were needed for motivating them to join the exercis