Telehealth Delivered Home-based Walking for Vets With Peripheral Artery Disease (TREK-PAD)
Walking is beneficial for adults with peripheral arterial disease. Benefits include the ability to walk for longer periods and general well being (quality of life). This study will look at two types of delivery methods for a home-based walking program. The walking program includes step count goals, information on healthy walking and motivational messages. The two delivery methods include a web-based delivery and an telehealth delivery. Participants are randomized to either one of the delivery methods or usual care. After 12 weeks participants in the web based or telehealth based groups maybe re-randomized to receive a combination of both web-based and telehealth for a second 12 week period. After 24 weeks, everyone is followed for an additional 12 weeks, so the total time a participant is in the study is 36 weeks. At baseline, 12, 24 and 36 weeks the investigators ask participant to walk (slowly) on a treadmill, perform a six-minute walk test, and several questionnaires on quality of life. Vouchers are provided at each study visit. All participants who complete the study also keep their pedometer.
• Men and women
• Diagnosis of lower extremity PAD due to atherosclerosis
• Claudication with walking defined as stage 1-3 on the Rutherford Scale
• Medical clearance from the patient's primary care provider or vascular care provider
• Ability to walk at least one city block
• Self-reported sedentary behaviors defined as \< 150 minutes per week of physical activity
• Access to a phone and/or email \& Internet
• Competent to provide informed consent