Supervised physical exercise therapy of peripheral artery disease patients: M-health challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) main symptom is intermittent claudication, causing pain and limiting the walking abilities of patients, forcing individuals to temporarily stop walking. One treatment advised to counteract the effects of this disease is the practice of physical exercise with monitoring. Currently the monitored exercise programs are applied at the hospital, so some patients have to travel long distances three times a week, with high costs and low adherence of the patients. This paper presents the cocreation process of a mobile application for quantified supervised home-based exercise therapy on PAD patients. The study aimed to design a solution adapted to users’ needs, which collects the necessary information for the therapy supervision by health professionals. The users’ behaviour with the application allowed the assessment to a set of limitations and potential sources of noise in the supervision data that suggest the evolution to a pervasive solution, by minimizing, or even eliminating, the interaction with the users. The developed tool is a first step towards the creation of a technological ecosystem for the prescription of supervised therapeutic physical exercise, which leverages self-care and allows access to this type of therapy to the entire population. Cardiovascular disease represents a considerable economic burden to society and effective preventive measures are necessary.