Discussion
To our knowledge this is the first study examining the relationship
between stage of exercise behaviour change and all the
TTM components specifically in people with Type 2 diabetes and/or
cardiovascular disease. This study supports the theoretical predictions
of the TTM when related to physical activity. Other studies
provide validity for the TTM to predict exercise behaviour in
healthy adults. Fahrenwald and Walker (2003) found that physical
activity participation, the uses of the processes of change and selfefficacy
increased with increasing stage in women with a mean age
of 24.33 5.9 yrs. A study in Korea of 1335 adults found significant
correlations between the constructs and stage of exercise behaviour
change (Kim, Cardinal, & Lee, 2006). Our results show that as
people progress to higher stages of behaviour change they report
higher levels of physical activity, self-efficacy and pros on decisional
balance, in addition to greater use of the processes of
behaviour change, specifically consciousness raising, self-liberation,
helping relationships, reinforcement management and
counter conditioning. Constructs of the TTM which appear to be
important at different stages have been identified. This information
will be useful in the future when designing stage-matched physical
activity interventions in these populations.