Dimensions of Home Walking Exercise
The dimensions of home walking included frequency, duration, and continuity. Participants recorded
their walks in an Exercise/Dyspnea Daily Log. During twice-monthly telephone calls from the nurse
coach, participants were questioned about the frequency of their walks. A written standardized
report of each telephone call included the frequency of home walks during the previous 2 weeks and
was used to augment missing log data. Frequency of home walks was defined as the number of days
per week that a participant walked at least once for exercise; Duration of home walks was defined as
the number of minutes per day that a participant walked for purposeful exercise; and Continuity of
home walking was defined as walking persistence, based on average frequency and duration of
walks and on relapse pattern (number and configuration of weeks without any walks) over the year.
Participants who walked more than 3 days per week, more than 20 minutes per session, and missed
no more than 6 nonconsecutive weeks of walking during the year (“consistent”) were compared
with participants who did not walk consistently.