Abstract 14421: Association Between Meeting Daily Step Count Goals With Ambulatory Function and Quality of Life in Patients With Claudication

Abstract

Introduction: The aims were to determine (a) whether patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) who walked at least 7,000 and 10,000 steps/day had better ambulatory function and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) than patients who walked less than 7,000 steps/day, and (b) whether these group differences persisted after adjusting for covariates. Hypothesis: Patients who walk at least 7,000 steps/day have significantly better ambulatory function, as measured by greater 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), and better HRQoL, as measured by a higher distance score on the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ), than patients who walked less than 7,000 steps/day, and that patients who walked more than 10,000 steps/day would have the best values. Furthermore, group differences in the primary outcomes would persist after adjustment for covariates. Methods: Two hundred forty-eight patients were assessed on their daily activity for one week with a step activity monitor, and were grouped according to daily step counts as follows: Group 1 (<7,000 steps/day; n=153), Group 2 (7,000-9,999 steps/day; n=57), Group 3 (>10,000 steps/day; n=38). Primary outcomes were 6MWD and WIQ distance score, which is a disease-specific measurement of HRQoL. Results: Groups were different (p<0.05) on ankle/brachial index, and on prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, abdominal obesity, arthritis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Thus, these variables served as covariates in adjusted analyses, along with age, weight, and sex. 6MWD (mean±SD) was significantly different among the groups in unadjusted (p<0.01) and adjusted (p<0.01) analyses (Group 1=313±90 m, Group 2=378±84 m, Group 3=414±77 m), with Groups 2 and 3 having higher 6MWD than Group 1 (p<0.01). Similar results were found for the WIQ distance score (Group 1=30±30%, Group 2=45±35%, Group 3=47±34%; p<0.01). Conclusions: PAD patients who walked more than 7,000 and 10,000 steps/day had greater ambulatory function and HRQoL than patients who walked fewer than 7,000 steps/day, and this finding persisted after adjusting for covariates. The clinical significance is that PAD patients should be encouraged to walk more than 7,000 steps/day because this target is associated with greater ambulatory function and HRQoL