In claudication patients , SE is more effective than UE at improving maximal walking and claudication distances , yet there is no difference in general quality of life or patient-reported community-based walking .
BACKGROUND Supervised exercise ( SE ) is widely accepted as an effective therapy for intermittent claudication ( IC ) , but its use is limited by cost .
Unsupervised exercise ( UE ) represents a less costly alternative .
We assessed the comparative effectiveness of SE vs UE in patients with IC .
Quality of life improvement after hospital- based rehabilitation or home-based physical training in intermittent claudication.
BACKGROUND The magnitude of potential changes in Quality -of-Life ( QoL ) after structured institution-based or home-based peripheral arterial disease ( PAD ) rehabilitation programs are largely unknown at present . This pilot study provides first QoL data after PAD rehabilitation or a home-based PAD training . PATIENTS AND METHODS In a non-r and omized , open-label pilot study three groups of out- patients were compared : group 1 ( n = 18 ) PAD rehabilitation ; group 2 ( n = 17 ) PAD rehabilitation + clopidogrel 75 mg once daily ; group 3 ( n = 20 ) home-based training .  The training period was 3 months , which was followed by a 3-month observation phase ( without prescribed training ) . The institution-based rehabilitation program consisted of 3 training hours per week whereas patients training at home were instructed to walk for 1 hour per day on an outdoor track . QoL assessment was performed using MOS SF-36 , PAVK-86 and PAD-WIQ question naires . RESULTS At baseline background variables , demographics and claudication distances were comparable between groups . After three months of training the percentage changes for the initial and the absolute claudication distance ( ICD , ACD ) for groups 1 , 2 , and 3 amounted to 164 % , 201 % , 44 % ( ICD ) and 83 % , 131 % , 5 % ( ACD ) , respectively . Statistically significant QoL improvements were recorded for physical functions , pain and disease related anxiety in all three study groups ; statistically significant inter-group differences were not found . CONCLUSIONS In sharp contrast to the development of the claudication distances the improvement in QoL , found after 3 months of training , was comparable and not consistently different between the groups
In claudication patients , SE is more effective than UE at improving maximal walking and claudication distances , yet there is no difference in general quality of life or patient-reported community-based walking .
BACKGROUND Supervised exercise ( SE ) is widely accepted as an effective therapy for intermittent claudication ( IC ) , but its use is limited by cost .
Unsupervised exercise ( UE ) represents a less costly alternative .
We assessed the comparative effectiveness of SE vs UE in patients with IC .