Response of patients with chronic pain to exercise quotas.

The effects of setting exercise quotas were examined using 26 subjects with chronic pain. The subjects were participants in a residential treatment program. Each subject was assigned a group of exercises to perform twice daily. A single subject multiple baseline design across responses was used to evaluate treatment effects. The data analysis revealed that the subjects responded to quotas by showing steady and gradual increases in exercise activity. These effects, however, occurred only when quotas were set and were not generalized from “quota” to “nonquota” exercises. These data were discussed in terms of the usefulness of exercise quotas, the applicability of multiple baseline designs, and the need for more research in the area of generalization.