Satisfaction and cardiac lifestyle.

A descriptive, correlational approach was used to examine the relationship between success with a recommended cardiac lifestyle and satisfaction with a cardiac rehabilitation programme 1 year following completion. The Cardiac Lifestyle Questionnaire (CLQ) and the Programme Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ) evaluated success in eight lifestyle dimensions and four satisfaction areas. Seventy-two participants (85.7%) returned questionnaires. Successful lifestyle dimensions included exercise, tobacco, alcohol and weight; diet, stress and hypertension were unsuccessful. Two open-ended programme satisfaction questions revealed that 'caring' and 'individualized' approaches were most favoured by participants. These provide direction for high-quality care in cardiac rehabilitation programmes. Discriminant analysis did not yield a statistically significant separation of groups relative to cardiac lifestyle on the basis of programme satisfaction areas.