SET was still beneficial for maximal and pain-free walking distances at 12 months , but it did not have a significant effect on quality of life parameters .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS SET has statistically significant benefit on treadmill walking distance ( maximal and pain-free ) compared with non-supervised regimens .
BACKGROUND Although supervised exercise therapy is considered to be of significant benefit for people with leg pain ( peripheral arterial disease ( PAD ) ) , implementing supervised exercise programs ( SETs ) in daily practice has limitations .
This is an up date of a review first published in 2006 .
OBJECTIVES The main objective of this review was to provide an accurate overview of studies evaluating the effects of supervised versus non-supervised exercise therapy on maximal walking time or distance on a treadmill for people with intermittent claudication .
Increasing exercise tolerance of persons limited by claudication pain using polestriding.
OBJECTIVE The efficacy of polestriding exercise ( walking with modified ski poles with a movement pattern similar to cross-country skiing ) to increase exercise tolerance of persons with intermittent claudication pain caused by peripheral arterial disease was tested in this 24-week prospect i ve r and omized clinical trial . METHODS The study was conducted in a Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital with 52 individuals who gave written informed consent and were r and omized into either a polestriding exercise ( n = 27 ; age , 65.5 + /- 7.0 years ; ankle brachial index , 0.64 + /- 0.25 ) or nonexercise control ( n = 25 ; age , 68.6 + /- 8.9 years ; ankle brachial index , 0.69 + /- 0.14 ) group ( P > .05 for all comparisons ) . The polestriding exercise program consisted of supervised training three times per week for 4 weeks , two times per week for 8 weeks , one time per week for 4 weeks , biweekly for 4 weeks and unsupervised training for 4 weeks . Starting in week 5 , subjects took their poles home with instructions to repeat the most recent supervised training walk at an appropriate and convenient location near their residence . This was referred to as unsupervised but directed exercise . Subjects were provided with a personal log book for documenting unsupervised exercise sessions . With both supervised and unsupervised exercise , subjects were expected to complete a total of four 30-minute to 45-minute polestriding exercise sessions per week . The main outcome measures were exercise duration on symptom-limited incremental treadmill test , Walking Impairment Question naire , rating of perceived leg pain at baseline , 4 , 8 , 12 , 16 , and 24 weeks , and constant work-rate treadmill exercise tests at baseline and at 4 , 12 , and 24 weeks . RESULTS Polestriding significantly ( P < .001 ) improved exercise tolerance on the constant work-rate and incremental treadmill tests . Ratings of perceived claudication pain were significantly less after the polestriding training program .  Subject perceived distance and walking speed scores on the Walking Impairment Question naire improved in the polestriding trained group only ( P < .001 and .022 , respectively ) . CONCLUSION This r and omized clinical trial provides empirical evidence that 24 weeks of polestriding training significantly improves quantitative and qualitative measures of the exercise tolerance of persons limited by intermittent claudication pain
SET was still beneficial for maximal and pain-free walking distances at 12 months , but it did not have a significant effect on quality of life parameters .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS SET has statistically significant benefit on treadmill walking distance ( maximal and pain-free ) compared with non-supervised regimens .
BACKGROUND Although supervised exercise therapy is considered to be of significant benefit for people with leg pain ( peripheral arterial disease ( PAD ) ) , implementing supervised exercise programs ( SETs ) in daily practice has limitations .
This is an up date of a review first published in 2006 .
OBJECTIVES The main objective of this review was to provide an accurate overview of studies evaluating the effects of supervised versus non-supervised exercise therapy on maximal walking time or distance on a treadmill for people with intermittent claudication .