Home Exercise to Enhance Mobility for Older Diabetics

VA Office of Research and Development

Status: Completed

Conditions: Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

Treatments: Behavioral: flex and toning health education program; Behavioral: home exercise/physical activity (PA) enhancement program with behavioral support

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT01308008

E7547-R

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of the proposed research is to test whether a long-term exercise program in sedentary Veterans with diabetes will produce sustained improvement in mobility performance and physical activity. In this proposed research, 240 sedentary older adult diabetics (aged 60 and over) will be randomly allocated into a customized, primarily home-based, functionally-oriented exercise program with nurse support intervention (I) group versus a flexibility and toning, health education control (C) group, and test outcomes in functional mobility and physical activity at 4 weeks, 6 months and one year. This research can lead to an exercise/PA enhancement program that can coordinate with VA outreach programs, targeting older Veterans who are not in the immediate vicinity of a major VA site. Ultimately, this should create a model to which physicians and other providers could refer comorbid diabetes patients.

Full description

The goal of the proposed research is to test whether a long-term exercise program in sedentary Veterans with diabetes will produce sustained improvement in mobility performance and physical activity. To facilitate adherence to a long-term program, the investigators plan an individualized, home exercise/physical activity (PA) enhancement program with behavioral support. The rationale for this program is based on: 1) the feasibility of a previously funded VA RR&D controlled trial (led by the present research team) in sedentary older adults with diabetes that improved mobility performance, specifically usual gait speed; 2) the need for longer term and functionally-relevant interventions (specifically mobility-oriented) for older adult diabetics; 3) the potential to use telephonic nurse support to assist in overcoming barriers to exercise and in dealing with intercurrent illness, factors that are key in this comorbid patient group; and 4) the potential to increase the focus on objectively measured physical activity. In this proposed research, 240 sedentary older adult diabetics (aged 60 and over) will be randomly allocated into a customized, primarily home-based, functionally-oriented exercise program with nurse support intervention (I) group versus a flexibility and toning, health education control (C) group, and test outcomes in functional mobility and physical activity at 4 weeks, 6 months and one year.

Enrollment: 144 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 60+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Sedentary
• Type 2 Diabetes
• No medical contraindications to exercise

Exclusion criteria

• Enrolled in intensive exercise program
• Unable to cooperate with protocol (e.g. cognitive impairment)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

144 participants in 2 patient groups

Functional exercise- home physical activity

Experimental group

Description:

On-site personal trainer-based functional aerobic program followed by home intervention consisting of functional exercise training and enhanced physical activity with telephonic behavioral support

Treatment:

Behavioral: home exercise/physical activity (PA) enhancement program with behavioral support

Flex and tone- home health education

Active Comparator group

Description:

Initial on-site flex and toning program continued on follow-up along with health education

Treatment:

Behavioral: flex and toning health education program