Web program helps get diabetes patients moving

A Web-based program can help people with type 2 diabetes become more active, a pilot study shows.

More than 60 percent of people with type 2 diabetes don't meet recommendations for physical activity, which is "one of the cornerstones of diabetes management," Dr. Tanis Liebreich and colleagues from the University of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada note.

They looked at whether a 12-week program called "Diabetes NetPLAY" could help type 2 diabetes patients boost their activity levels.

Liebreich and colleagues randomly assigned 49 people to the Diabetes NetPLAY program or to a control group who were given links to Canadian guidelines for physical activity.

The NetPLAY program included information on research, fitness, education, and physical activity myths that are updated every week, along with a physical activity logbook, message board and weekly email counseling. Each week, the program explored a different theme based on social cognitive theory - basically, the idea that people learn from watching other people.

People in the Diabetes NetPLAY group were satisfied with the program and thought it was user-friendly. At the end of 12 weeks, the men and women in this group were engaging in 47 more minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every week, while activity levels for the control group had dropped.

One possible drawback, the researchers note, is the difficulty they encountered in recruiting people to participate in the study; they handed out more than 200 study information packages, but many people declined to participate because they were hesitant about using the internet or didn't have access to a computer.

Nevertheless, the researchers conclude, "This study revealed the web-based delivery of physical activity programs holds particular promise for behaviour change in the diabetes population."

SOURCE: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, March 27, 2009.