Efficacy of using physical activity mentors to increase the daily steps of older adults in the primary care setting: a pilot study.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if using physical activity (PA) mentors has any additional impact on daily steps of older adults participating in the Maine in Motion (MIM) program in the primary care setting. Participants were randomly assigned to a MIM-only group (n = 14) or a MIM+ mentor group (n = 14). The MIM intervention lasted 6 months with follow-up at 12 months. Average age of participants was 64 ± 8.8 years and most participants had multiple chronic illnesses. At baseline, mean body mass index (BMI) was 32.2 ± 5.1 and average daily steps were 4,236 ± 2,266. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects for steps, F(2.324, 59.104) = 4.168, p = .015, but no main effects for group, F(1, 25) = 2.988, p = .096, or time-by-group interaction, F(2.324, 59.104) = 0.905, p = .151. All participants significantly increased daily steps over the course of the intervention, with MIM+ participants maintaining increases at follow-up. No significant findings were found for BMI.

How many steps/day are enough? For older adults and special populations.

Older adults and special populations (living with disability and/or chronic illness that may limit mobility and/or physical endurance) can benefit from practicing a more physically active lifestyle, typically by increasing ambulatory activity. Step counting devices (accelerometers and pedometers) offer an opportunity to monitor daily ambulatory activity; however, an appropriate translation of public health guidelines in terms of steps/day is unknown. Therefore this review was conducted to translate public health recommendations in terms of steps/day. Normative data indicates that 1) healthy older adults average 2,000-9,000 steps/day, and 2) special populations average 1,200-8,800 steps/day. Pedometer-based interventions in older adults and special populations elicit a weighted increase of approximately 775 steps/day (or an effect size of 0.26) and 2,215 steps/day (or an effect size of 0.67), respectively. There is no evidence to inform a moderate intensity cadence (i.e., steps/minute) in older adults at this time. However, using the adult cadence of 100 steps/minute to demark the lower end of an absolutely-defined moderate intensity (i.e., 3 METs), and multiplying this by 30 minutes produces a reasonable heuristic (i.e., guiding) value of 3,000 steps. However, this cadence may be unattainable in some frail/diseased populations. Regardless, to truly translate public health guidelines, these steps should be taken over and above activities performed in the course of daily living, be of at least moderate intensity accumulated in minimally 10 minute bouts, and add up to at least 150 minutes over the week. Considering a daily background of 5,000 steps/day (which may actually be too high for some older adults and/or special populations), a computed translation approximates 8,000 steps on days that include a target of achieving 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and approximately 7,100 steps/day if averaged over a week. Measured directly and including these background activities, the evidence suggests that 30 minutes of daily MVPA accumulated in addition to habitual daily activities in healthy older adults is equivalent to taking approximately 7,000-10,000 steps/day. Those living with disability and/or chronic illness (that limits mobility and or/physical endurance) display lower levels of background daily activity, and this will affect whole-day estimates of recommended physical activity.

Using Pedometers to Increase the Non-Workday Steps of Hospital Nursing and Support Staff: A Pilot Study.

Nursing is a physically active profession; however, nurses and nursing support staff may limit their physical activity (PA) on non-workdays. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effects of a 12-week pedometer-based PA intervention on daily steps of hospital nursing and support staff from two departments, emergency (ED) and oncology (ONC). The 12-week minimal-contact, self-managed intervention was designed to increase total and non-workday PA. Twenty participants with an average age of 47.6 ± 7.1 years completed the intervention. Significant differences were found between total daily steps at baseline (8,446) and at 12 weeks (10,655; p = .014), and between workday steps at baseline (10,398) and at 12 weeks (13,056; p = 0.005). Oncology unit participants significantly increased their non-workday steps from baseline (5,850) to 12 weeks (9,829; p = .003). As part of a comprehensive intervention, pedometers can promote total and non-workday PA of nursing and support staff.

A preliminary study on the impact of a pedometer-based intervention on daily steps.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of an 8-week, pedometer-based lifestyle physical activity intervention on physical activity levels. METHODS: Participants were 37 college employees who volunteered to participate in the study. The intervention consisted of goal setting, pedometer use, self-monitoring, and weekly e-mail reminders. Physical activity measures (pedometer, survey) were taken at baseline and immediately following the intervention. A t-test for paired samples was used to determine significant changes in measures. RESULTS: Results indicate a significant increase in average daily steps (p < .01), from 8565 (+/- 3121) steps at baseline to 10,538 (+/- 3681) steps after the program. Participants who averaged fewer than 6000 steps and obese participants experienced the greatest increase. DISCUSSION: Although preliminary, this study indicates that the minimal contact, self-managed, pedometer-based lifestyle intervention was effective in increasing the daily physical activity of participants. Given the combination of behavioral techniques used, a recommendation for future studies would be to examine the impact of individual behavioral techniques on daily physical activity.

Strategies used to increase lifestyle physical activity in a pedometer-based intervention.

The purpose of this study was to determine the self-selected strategies participants used to increase physical activity during an 8-week, pedometer-based lifestyle intervention. Participants were 34 employees of a small northeastern private college, with a mean age of 44.3 (+/- 9.3) years. The intervention consisted of a counseling session (goal setting, strategy selection), daily pedometer usage, and self-monitoring. Measures included height, weight, and pedometer-assessed ambulatory activity. Participants were placed in body mass index (BMI) and weekly physical activity improvement tertiles. BMI categories included normal weight (BMI 18.6-24.9), overweight (BMI 25-29.9), and obese (BMI > or =30). Weekly physical activity improvement categories included small/no improvement (<1%/wk), moderate improvement (1-5%/wk), and large improvement (>5%/wk). Data analysis consisted of descriptive and nonparametric inferential statistics (chi2). Participants in this study used 11 primary strategies on a regular basis to increase daily physical activity. The percentage of participants who used these strategies was as follows: walked to a meeting or work-related errand (64.7%), after work (50.0%), before work (35.3%), at lunch (47.1%), on the weekend (32.4%), while traveling (32.4%), with the dog (32.4%), or to a destination (work/store) (29.4%). Additionally, participants parked farther away (50%), used the stairs rather than an elevator (23.5%), and performed other cardiovascular activity (52.9%). Differences among BMI groups were found for the parking further strategy (p < 0.05), with obese participants using this strategy significantly more than overweight participants. No significant differences were found among weekly physical activity improvement groups. This study indicates that participants in a pedometer-based lifestyle physical activity intervention used a variety of strategies to increase daily physical activity.

Focus groups to explore the perceptions of older adults on a pedometer-based intervention.

Focus group methodology was used to explore in depth the perceptions of older adults who had participated in a 12-week pedometer-based intervention. Nineteen women and 8 men, ages 55-86 years, volunteered to take part in the focus groups following participation in the intervention. Four focus groups of six to eight participants were scheduled at primary sites in the southern Maine area. Analysis of the data revealed four specific topical areas: (a) factors that led to increases in daily step count, (b) factors that hindered increases in daily step count, (c) benefits of pedometer intervention program, and (d) recommendations on how to improve older adults' physical activity. Overall, focus group participants found this intervention to be beneficial and recommended its expansion to other groups.

Effect of a pedometer-based intervention on daily step counts of community-dwelling older adults.

This study investigated the effect of a 12-week pedometer-based intervention on daily step counts of 147 older adults randomly assigned to an intervention or wait-list control group (M age = 72.9 years, SD = 8.8). The intervention group significantly increased their daily step counts after 12 weeks (M=639, SD=2239) and continued to significantly increase during a 12-week maintenance period (M=680, SD=1721). The control group exhibited no change during the control period (M = -393, SD=2050) but had a significant increase in daily step counts (M=1580, SD=2305) when enrolled in the intervention. The pedometer-based intervention was effective in increasing participants' daily step counts.