Abstract
Objective We aimed to assess whether there is a difference in the ankle-brachial index (ABI) in patients without known peripheral arterial disease (PAD) measured in the Romanian primary care at the General Practitioner (GP) office before and after six months of moderate physical activity. The second goal was to demonstrate the importance of implementing a moderate physical activity program that can be prescribed in primary care for patients above 50 years. Methodology The pilot study enrolled 96 patients without symptoms or known PAD, selected randomly from the general population, according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. We measured the ABI in the GP practice at enrolment in the study and six months after they underwent a GP-led moderate physical activity program. The study took place from August 2024 to March 2025. Results The mean ABI in the study group was 0.98 before physical activity and increased to 1.07 after the moderate physical activity program, with a significant analysis of variance (ANOVA) P-value < 0.001. Patients with low ABI at baseline (<0.9) had improvements after the prescribed GP-led moderate physical activity program, which may indicate an intervention effect. Conclusions All participants showed improvements in ABI after the physical activity program. The physical activity program shows an additional effect on ABI, as assumed. Our study is a pilot intervention without a control group, providing preliminary data through a practical primary care approach. Implementing a moderate physical activity program at the GP level could improve ABI in patients with asymptomatic PAD. Promoting patient education and training, particularly for those over 50, in the GP office can raise awareness about the benefits of regular physical activity and the importance of monitoring ABI.