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 .
Multicenter randomized clinical trial of supervised exercise therapy with or without feedback versus walking advice for intermittent claudication.
OBJECTIVE The initial treatment for intermittent claudication is supervised exercise therapy ( SET ) . Owing to limited capacity and patient transports costs of clinic-based SET , a concept of SET provided by local physiotherapists was developed . We hypothesized that provision of daily feedback with an accelerometer in addition to SET would further increase walking distance . METHODS This multicenter r and omized trial was set in vascular surgery outpatient clinics and included 304 patients with intermittent claudication . Patients were r and omized to exercise therapy in the form of " go home and walk " advice ( WA ) , SET , or SET with feedback . Local physiotherapists provided SET . The primary outcome measure was the change in absolute claudication distance . Secondary outcomes were the change in functional claudication distance and results on the Walking Impairment Question naire ( WIQ ) and Short-Form 36 ( SF-36 ) Health Survey after 12 months . RESULTS In 11 centers , 102 , 109 , and 93 patients were included , respectively , in the WA , SET , and SET with feedback groups , and data for 83 , 93 , and 76 , respectively , could be analyzed . The median ( interquartile range ) change in walking distance between 12 months and baseline in meters was 110 ( 0 - 300 ) in the WA group , 310 ( 145 - 995 ) in the SET group , and 360 ( 173 - 697 ) in the SET with feedback group ( P < .001 WA vs SET ) . WIQ scores and relevant domains of the SF-36 improved statistically significantly in the SET groups . CONCLUSIONS SET is more effective than WA in improving walking distance , WIQ scores , and quality of life for patients with intermittent claudication . Additional feedback with an accelerometer did not result in further improvement . SET programs should be made available for all patients with intermittent claudication
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 .