Conclusions : Currently , there is insufficient evidence about the effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise compared to isolated aerobic exercise or usual care on walking performance .
However , despite the low quality of evidence , the combined aerobic and resistance exercise seems to be an effective strategy to improve walking performance in patients with intermittent claudication .
These combined exercise modes or isolated aerobic exercise produce positive and significant results on walking performance .
The usual care approach has a trend to deteriorate the walking performance .
Background : The short-term benefits of aerobic and resistance exercise in subjects affected by Peripheral Arterial Disease ( PAD ) are scarcely examined in interaction .
This study aim ed to identify the effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise programs on walking performance compared with isolated aerobic exercise or with the usual care in patients with intermittent claudication .
Six-minute walk test closely correlates to "real-life" outdoor walking capacity and quality of life in patients with intermittent claudication.
OBJECTIVE We used outdoor walking distance measured during 40 minutes as " real-life " outdoor walking capacity in 49 patients with intermittent claudication ( IC ) . The outdoor walking distance was measured by a global positioning system application for a smartphone . The relationships of self-reported maximum walking distance ( SR-MWD ) , the MWD on a grade d treadmill test , and the 6-minute maximum walk distance ( 6MWD ) vs outdoors walking capacity were investigated . Also studied were the associations of SR-MWD , MWD , and 6MWD with health-related quality of life assessed with the disease-specific instrument the  Vascular Quality of Life Question naire ( VascuQoL ) . METHODS In this prospect i ve observational cohort study , 49 IC patients underwent an  outdoor walking capacity test for 40 minutes , and MWD and 6MWD were measured . SR-MWD was recorded , and all subjects completed the VascuQoL question naire . Associations between the different walk estimates and outdoor walking capacity and health-related quality of life were investigated by correlation analysis ( Spearman ρ ) . RESULTS Outdoor walking distance during 40 minutes was a median 2495 m ( range , 1110 - 3300 m ) . SR-MWD correlated moderately and MWD correlated strongly to outdoor walking capacity ( r = 0.56 and r = 0.65 ; P < .001 , respectively ) . The 6MWD test showed the largest correlation to the outdoor walking capacity ( r = 0.78 ; P < .001 ) . The 6MWD was the only test that showed correlations with the VascuQoL sum score ( r = 0.53 ; P < .01 ) and all of the domain scores , whereas SR-MWD and MWD showed weak correlations to the VascuQoL. CONCLUSIONS The distance walked during the 6-minute walk test is closely correlated to outdoor walking capacity and health-related quality of life in IC patients . Our data support the use of 6MWD for routine clinical evaluation of walking capacity in IC patients
Conclusions : Currently , there is insufficient evidence about the effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise compared to isolated aerobic exercise or usual care on walking performance .
However , despite the low quality of evidence , the combined aerobic and resistance exercise seems to be an effective strategy to improve walking performance in patients with intermittent claudication .
These combined exercise modes or isolated aerobic exercise produce positive and significant results on walking performance .
The usual care approach has a trend to deteriorate the walking performance .
Background : The short-term benefits of aerobic and resistance exercise in subjects affected by Peripheral Arterial Disease ( PAD ) are scarcely examined in interaction .
This study aim ed to identify the effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise programs on walking performance compared with isolated aerobic exercise or with the usual care in patients with intermittent claudication .