Nurse Physical Activity Counseling in Primary Care

Aging veterans with functional impairments followed in primary care clinics were randomized to counseling for a walking plus strength exercise home-based exercise program or to health education by a nurse. Exercise participants attended 3 intervention sessions totaling about 100 minutes of contact with the nurse and a physical therapy assistant over 10 months. They were also asked to record walking and strength exercise on monthly calendars and received motivational automated phone messages. Education control patients discussed health topics of their choice with the nurse. Materials were based on National Institute of Aging materials currently available on the internet. After 10 months, the exercise participants reported more time spent in walking and strength exercise and accelerometer data indicated a greater increase in time spent in moderate or higher intensity activity per day. Participants who engaged in strength exercises improved more on functional fitness tests and quality of life after 10 months. Analyses from the cognitive sub-study remain incomplete.