Exploring the feasibility of a self-managed lifestyle intervention, based on exercise and behaviour support, as an adjunct therapy to compression: a sub-study focusing on people with venous leg ulcers and early neuro-degenerative diseases (FISCU-NDD)

Background: The aim of this study was to adapt the “FISCU Home” intervention (a co-produced, self-managed and expert-supported lifestyle intervention comprising exercise and behaviour support aimed at people with Venous Leg Ulcers (VLUs), in a way that is suitable for the needs of people with combined VLUs and early-stage, Neuro-degenerative diseases (NDDs), and to explore its feasibility (e.g., estimate rates of recruitment and completion of sessions, calculate study adherence rates, assess participant satisfaction via participant interviews, and assess ease of data collection) within this clinical sub-group. Methods: We recruited seven people belonging to this VLUs sub-group (e.g., people with early-stage dementia or Parkinson’s), who were ≥18 years’ old, had VLU(s) of diameter ≥1 cm, ABPI ≥ 0.8, had the ability to tolerate lower-leg compression and were receiving VLU treatment at home. In Phase 1, participants helped us adapt the intervention. In Phase 2 we carried out a 4-week “training crash-course”. This consisted of three, 1 h, self-managed, exercise sessions per week (12 sessions in total), among the participants that completed the interviews. For Phase 3, we carried out post-interviews with all participants to investigate their study experiences, which were analysed using content analysis. Results: All assessments were completed successfully (100% retention and assessment completion), with no exercise-related adverse events. All participants completed the 4-week intervention (100%; all sessions completed by all participants). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the adapted intervention is feasible, enjoyable and well-received, and has the potential to provide clinical benefits to the participants.