Data showed improvements secondary to exercise in ' physical function ' and ' general health ' .
The other domains - ' role physical ' , ' bodily pain ' , ' vitality ' , ' social ' , ' role emotional ' , and ' mental health ' - did not show improvement at six months .
Although results showed significant heterogeneity between trials , population s and outcomes were comparable overall , with findings relevant to the claudicant population .
High- quality evidence shows that exercise programmes provided important benefit compared with placebo or usual care in improving both pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with leg pain from IC who were considered to be fit for exercise intervention .
Exercise did not improve ABI , and we found no evidence of an effect of exercise on amputation or mortality .
Exercise may improve quality of life when compared with placebo or usual care .
BACKGROUND Exercise programmes are a relatively inexpensive , low-risk option compared with other , more invasive therapies for treatment of leg pain on walking ( intermittent claudication ( IC ) ) .
This is the fourth up date of a review first published in 1998 .
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to determine whether an exercise programme was effective in alleviating symptoms and increasing walking treadmill distances and walking times in people with intermittent claudication .
Secondary objectives were to determine whether exercise was effective in preventing deterioration of underlying disease , reducing cardiovascular events , and improving quality of life .
Optimal exercise program length for patients with claudication.
BACKGROUND This prospect i ve , r and omized controlled clinical trial determined whether an optimal exercise program length exists to efficaciously change claudication onset time ( COT ) and peak walking time ( PWT ) in patients with peripheral artery disease and claudication . METHODS The study r and omized 142 patients to supervised exercise ( n = 106 ) or a usual care control group ( n = 36 ) , with 80 completing the exercise program and 27 completing the control intervention .  The exercise program consisted of intermittent walking to nearly maximal claudication pain 3 days per week . COT and PWT were the primary outcomes obtained from a treadmill exercise test at baseline and bimonthly during the study . RESULTS After exercise , changes in COT ( P < .001 ) and PWT ( P < .001 ) were consistently greater than changes after the control intervention . In the exercise program , COT and PWT increased from baseline to month 2 ( P < .05 ) and from months 2 to 4 ( P < .05 ) but did not significantly change from months 4 to 6 ( P > .05 ) . When changes were expressed per mile walked during the first 2 months , middle 2 months , and final 2 months of exercise , COT and PWT only increased during the first 2 months ( P < .05 ) . CONCLUSIONS Exercise-mediated gains in COT and PWT occur rapidly within the first 2 months of exercise rehabilitation and are maintained with further training . The clinical significance is that a relatively short 2-month exercise program may be preferred to a longer program to treat claudication because adherence is higher , costs associated with personnel and use of facilities are lower per patient , and more patients can be trained for a given amount of personnel time and re source utilization
Data showed improvements secondary to exercise in ' physical function ' and ' general health ' .
The other domains - ' role physical ' , ' bodily pain ' , ' vitality ' , ' social ' , ' role emotional ' , and ' mental health ' - did not show improvement at six months .
Although results showed significant heterogeneity between trials , population s and outcomes were comparable overall , with findings relevant to the claudicant population .
High- quality evidence shows that exercise programmes provided important benefit compared with placebo or usual care in improving both pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with leg pain from IC who were considered to be fit for exercise intervention .
Exercise did not improve ABI , and we found no evidence of an effect of exercise on amputation or mortality .
Exercise may improve quality of life when compared with placebo or usual care .
BACKGROUND Exercise programmes are a relatively inexpensive , low-risk option compared with other , more invasive therapies for treatment of leg pain on walking ( intermittent claudication ( IC ) ) .
This is the fourth up date of a review first published in 1998 .
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to determine whether an exercise programme was effective in alleviating symptoms and increasing walking treadmill distances and walking times in people with intermittent claudication .
Secondary objectives were to determine whether exercise was effective in preventing deterioration of underlying disease , reducing cardiovascular events , and improving quality of life .