Table 1.

Eligibility criteria for Steps to Health

Participants were eligible to participate if they:

were told by a health care professional that they have some form of arthritis reported at least one symptom of arthritis (joint pain, stiffness, tenderness, decreased range of motion, redness and warmth, deformity, crackling or grating, fatigue) were 18 years or older were the only one in their household participating in the study were not planning to move out of the area in the next 9 months were able to read and write in English were not participating in another research study (unless it was an observational study without any intervention or medication)

Participants were ineligible to participate if they:

endorsed an item on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q)21: were told by a health care provider that they had a heart condition and should only do exercise recommended by a doctor experienced chest pain during rest or exercise experienced dizziness or loss of consciousness had a bone or joint problem (besides arthritis) that could be made worse by exercise knew of any other reason they should not do exercise had uncontrolled hypertension (Z160/100) (participants were not excluded if they took medication for hypertension and their blood pressure was controlled) had a fall in the past year that required medical assistance were pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant in the next year (women) were diabetic and taking insulin could not walk longer than 3 minutes without a rest could not stand without assistance for more than 2 minutes could not sit in chair without arms for more than 5 minutes were already physically active (aerobic activities ≥3 days/week for ≥30 minutes/day or strength training ≥2 days/week for ≥20 minutes/day)