The SMARTER study examined the effects of physician-delivered step count prescriptions and monitoring in patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension with the goal of enhancing physical activity and cardiometabolic profiles over a one-year period using pedometers and written step count prescriptions at each visit.
The study (whose results were recently published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism) showed that the step count prescription strategy led to a net 20% increase in step counts and improvements in both haemoglobin A1c and insulin sensitivity. Future studies will evaluate an amplified intervention to increase impact.
IBTN Co-Chair Dr. Simon Bacon was involved in this study.