Nevertheless , there was " low-level " evidence that HEPs can improve walking capacity and quality of life in patients with intermittent claudication when compared with baseline or in comparison to usual care/observation control .
In addition , improvements with  HEPs  may be inferior to those evoked by supervised exercise training .
We aim ed to conduct a systematic review of the evidence for structured , home-based exercise programmes ( HEPs ) in patients with intermittent claudication .
Physiological and functional impact of an unsupervised but supported exercise programme for claudicants.
OBJECTIVES To evaluate an unsupervised home-based exercise programme for physiological , functional , and quality of life impact in patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease . DESIGN Prospect i ve cohort with exercise intervention . MATERIAL S Human performance laboratory with non-invasive haemodynamic assessment facilities . METHODS Forty-seven patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease ( mean age 67.6+/-7 years , 33 males ) participated in an unsupervised home-based exercise programme .  Heart rate ( HR ) , ankle brachial blood pressure index ( ABPI ) , leg blood flow ( BF ) , and blood lactate were measured before and after a grade d treadmill walk at baseline and after the 12-week exercise programme .  Maximum walking distance ( MWD ) during the treadmill walk was measured at baseline and 12 weeks . Exercise compliance , functional parameters , and quality of life ( VascuQoL ) were assessed by question naire . RESULTS MWD , leg BF , and VascuQoL scores increased significantly , while resting HR , exercise HR , and end of walk rate-pressure-product ( RPP ) decreased significantly after 12 weeks . Exercise compliance was significantly correlated with increase in MWD ( r=0.89 , p<0.001 ) and QOL score improvement ( r=0.61 , p<0.001 ) . CONCLUSIONS This supported but unsupervised exercise programme generated improvements in walking distance and leg blood flow without detectable increases in cardiorespiratory work . Exercise compliance is related to MWD and VascuQoL score in a dose-response manner
Nevertheless , there was " low-level " evidence that HEPs can improve walking capacity and quality of life in patients with intermittent claudication when compared with baseline or in comparison to usual care/observation control .
In addition , improvements with  HEPs  may be inferior to those evoked by supervised exercise training .
We aim ed to conduct a systematic review of the evidence for structured , home-based exercise programmes ( HEPs ) in patients with intermittent claudication .