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 .
Short-term effects of cycle and treadmill training on exercise tolerance in peripheral arterial disease.
BACKGROUND To explore the efficacy of cycle training in the treatment of intermittent claudication , the present study compared performance and physiologic effects of cycle training with more conventional treadmill walking training in a group of patients with claudication . METHOD Forty-two individuals with peripheral arterial disease and intermittent claudication ( 24 men , 18 women ) were stratified by gender and the presence or absence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and then r and omized to a treadmill ( n = 13 ) , cycle ( n = 15 ) , or control group ( n = 14 ) . Treadmill and cycle groups trained three times a week for 6 weeks , whereas the control group did not train during this period .  Maximal and pain-free exercise times were measured on grade d treadmill and cycle tests before and after training . RESULTS Treadmill training significantly improved maximal and pain-free treadmill walking times but did not improve cycle performance .  Cycle training significantly improved maximal cycle time but did not improve treadmill performance . However , there was evidence of a stronger cross-transfer effect between the training modes for patients who reported a common limiting symptom during cycling and walking at baseline . There was also considerable variation in the training response to cycling , and a subgroup of responsive patients in the cycle group improved their walking performance by more than the average response observed in the treadmill group . CONCLUSION These findings suggest that cycle exercise is not effective in improving walking performance in all claudication patients but might be an effective alternative to walking in those who exhibit similar limiting symptoms during both types of exercise
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 .