OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of an intervention to promote physical activity and fitness in physically disabled women. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Home or community. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-five adult women with mobility limitations. INTERVENTION: Incorporated behavioral techniques, social support, and education to promote exercise. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fitness measures included weight, body mass index, resting blood pressure and heart rate, time to complete a mobility course, and heart rate during and blood pressure after navigating the course. Also collected self-reported experience of secondary conditions and weekly self-reports of physical activity. RESULTS: We found no significant fitness differences between groups, except for peak heart rate. However, paired t tests of the physical activity data revealed the experimental group significantly increased its total weekly physical activity minutes (p = 0.04), and the increase in weekly cardiovascular activity approached significance (p = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: The experimental group did not experience better fitness or fewer secondary conditions than the controls. However, the experimental group's physical activity data indicate that this group significantly increased its activity over 6 months. Thus, although this study did not detect health changes, it showed that mobility-impaired women can adopt and maintain a physical activity program.

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