Objective: To examine factors associated with adherence to a walking program in community-dwelling individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Methods: Data were analyzed for 66 participants with AD asked to walk 30 continuous minutes per day. Adherence data (number of days walked, minutes walked, days walked 30+ minutes) were obtained from daily logs. Predictor variables included age, spousal relationship, health limitations, depression, participant dementia severity and behavioral disturbance, and caregiver stress and dementia management style.
Results: During week 1, participants significantly (P < .0001) increased number of days walked/week compared to baseline. However, walking frequency and duration declined over 6 months. Nonwalkers had higher behavioral disruption scores. Regression analyses indicated that participants who walked more were less depressed. Caregivers of walking participants tended to be spouses, and reported less stress.
Conclusions: Both participant and caregiver factors (participant behavioral disruption and depression; caregiver stress and spousal relationship) impacted whether community-dwelling individuals with AD adhered to a walking program.