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 .
The Acute Effects of Cigarette Smoking on Treadmill Exercise Distances in Patients with Stable Intermittent Claudication
The hypothesis that smoking has an acute effect on treadmill exercise per formance in patients with peripheral vascular disease was investigated in a crossover trial . Twelve patients with stable intermittent claudication who were regular smokers attended on two occasions within one week and treadmill tests were performed after 1/2 , 1 , 1½ , and 2 hours . Immediately before the second exercise test , two st and ard cigarettes were smoked or an unlit cigarette was " sham-smoked . " Because participants could not be blinded , an attempt to con trol for patient bias was made . Half were told that we expected smoking to make no difference or possibly cause some improvement , and half were told that we expected it to make no difference or possibly cause some deterioration . These explanations and the order of study days were determined by balanced r and om ization . Suggestion had a significant influence on claudication distance immediately after smoking ( p < 0.01 ) but no significant effect on walking distance . Combin ing data from both groups assumes that no overall bias was introduced by the explanations given . Immediately after smoking , small , nonsignificant increases in claudication distance ( + 10 % , 95 % CI-7 % , + 27 % ) and walking distance ( + 9 % , 95 % CI-2 % , + 19 % ) were observed . Smoking caused a mean increase in heart rate of 9 beats per minute , which persisted for one hour , but no consistent change in blood pressure . The results show that suggestion may have a signifi ca nt influence on treadmill exercise distances . Smoking is unlikely to have an important acute effect on exercise performance in claudicants
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 .