A tailored print-based physical activity intervention for patients with type 2 diabetes

To examine the effects of a tailored, print-based intervention for promoting physical activity among patients with type 2 diabetes.

This randomized controlled trial was conducted 2006-2007 in Tallahassee, FL. Patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (N=85; mean age=57.1 years; 74.1% Caucasian) were recruited from a community diabetes clinic. The four-week intervention was tailored to participants' current activity levels, motivational readiness, self-efficacy, and other relevant psychosocial constructs. Primary outcomes included self-reported physical activity and physical activity stage of change.

Compared with usual care, participants receiving the intervention were more likely to progress in their physical activity stage of change between baseline and month one (OR=3.2, 95% CI 1.0-10.3) and were more likely to be in the Action or Maintenance stages at month one (OR=5.6, 95% CI 1.7-18.3). The change in weekly activity among intervention participants was 22 min greater than those receiving usual care, although this represented a non-significant difference, p=0.22.

While this print-based intervention has the potential to reach a large audience and produced improvements in relevant psychosocial constructs, more intensive programs may be needed to achieve greater behavioral improvements.