WalkingPad: The Patient Experience in Peripheral Artery Disease

Abstract

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is an occlusive atherosclerotic disease that affects blood vessels and reduces blood flow in the lower limbs. It is estimated that around 200 million people worldwide suffered from it, with a significant number of older people affected. Walking is one of the first-line therapeutic measures for intermittent claudication (IC) in patients with PAD. Supervised Exercise Therapy (SET) programs effectively increase walking distances, however, remain an underutilized tool because they are not readily available in most clinical centres, are extremely expensive, and patient participation is low mainly due to socioeconomic constraints. Home-based Exercise Therapy (HBET) programs are an effective and low-cost alternative to improve both the functional capacity and quality of life (QoL) of patients with IC, as they are performed in the patient’s area of residence and not in the hospital. The WalkingPad program conciliated a smartphone app – the WalkingPad app – with behaviour change intervention to increase walking distances and decrease walking impairment as well to improve QoL at 6 months.

Citation

Silva, I.F.S. (2023), "WalkingPad: The Patient Experience in Peripheral Artery Disease", Vaz de Almeida, C. and Lytras, M.D. (Ed.) Technology-Enhanced Healthcare Education: Transformative Learning for Patient-centric Health (Emerald Studies in Higher Education, Innovation and Technology), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 93-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-598-920231008