Objective: Determine the efficacy of a home-based walking intervention to improve walking ability and quality of life in people with diabetes and peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
Research design and methods: We conducted a randomized, controlled, single-blind trial within university-affiliated clinics in our local community. We randomized 145 participants (45 women) with diabetes and PAD to our intervention--a 6-month behavioral intervention targeting levels of readiness to engage in routine walking for exercise--versus attention control. Our primary outcome was 6-month change in maximal treadmill walking distance. Secondary outcomes included 3-month change in maximal walking distance, lower limb function (i.e., walking impairment scores), quality of life (Medical Outcomes Short Form Survey), exercise behaviors, depressive symptoms, and self-efficacy at 3 and 6 months.
Results: The mean age of participants was 66.5 (SD 10.1) years. Intervention and control groups did not differ significantly in 6-month change in maximal treadmill walking distance (average [SE] 24.5 [19.6] meters vs. 39.2 [19.6] meters; P = 0.60). Among secondary outcomes, for the intervention and control groups, respectively, average walking speed scores increased by 5.7 [2.2] units and decreased by 1.9 [2.8] units (P = 0.03); the mental health quality of life subscale score increased by 3.2 [1.5] and decreased by 2.4 [1.5] units (P = 0.01).
Conclusions: A home-based walking intervention did not improve walking distance but did improve walking speed and quality of life in people with diabetes and PAD. Clinicians should consider recommending home-based walking therapy for such patients.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00611988.