Abstracts

Rationale: The purpose of this pilot study was to describe the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the self-efficacy based EMOVE intervention to increase exercise behavior in adults with epilepsy. The E-MOVE intervention focused on education and motivation and consisted of 4 components including education about and a return demonstration of the exercise program, individualized goal setting, exercise self-modeling and on-going verbal encouragement. Addressing the motivational issues related to regular exercise in those living with epilepsy has the potential to improve adherence to regular exercise participation, thus promoting the health benefits regular exercise has to offer. Methods: A single-group repeated measures design was used. Data were collected at baseline and 12 weeks following the intervention. Outcome data included Self-Efficacy (SEE-E) and Outcome Expectations for Exercise in Epilepsy (OEE-E), Beck Depression Inventory ?" II (BDI-II), Quality of Life in Epilepsy ?" 31 (QOLIE-31), seizure activity, time spent exercising, and body mass index (BMI). Time spent exercising was measured using a wrist-worn activity monitor to record daily number of steps. Repeated measure analyses were done. Results: Thirty participants were recruited. Participants were single (63%), White (53%), female (63%) with mean age 46.7 years, had an average of 5 seizures per month, and spent little time in physical exercise accumulating about half of the daily recommended 10,000 steps per day (M=5809). The EMOVE intervention was feasible. There were significant improvements in depressive symptoms from baseline (M=13.6, SD=11.3) to 12 weeks (M=9.4, SD=9.3) (F (1,22)=4.61, p < 0.05). There were non-significant improvements in self-efficacy and outcome expectations for exercise and QOL, the average number of daily steps, BMI and number of seizures. Conclusions: The results of this study provide support for the feasibility of the EMOVE intervention and efficacy for improving depressive symptoms among people with epilepsy. Further study is needed to test EMOVE for efficacy and should incorporate a guided exercise component in the intervention and a control group. Funding: Funding was provided through the Intramural Program of the National Institutes of Neurological Institutes of Health and Stroke