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 .
Walking performance and health-related quality of life after surgical or endovascular invasive versus non-invasive treatment for intermittent claudication--a prospective randomised trial.
OBJECTIVES Despite limited scientific evidence for the effectiveness of invasive treatment for intermittent claudication ( IC ) , revascularisation procedures for IC are increasingly often performed in Sweden . This r and omised controlled trial compares the outcome after 2 years of primary invasive ( INV ) versus primary non-invasive ( NON ) treatment strategies in unselected IC patients . MATERIAL S/ METHODS Based on arterial duplex and clinical examination , IC patients were r and omised to INV ( endovascular and /or surgical , n = 100 ) or NON ( n = 101 ) . NON patients could request invasive treatment if they deteriorated during follow-up . Primary outcome was maximal walking performance ( MWP ) on grade d treadmill test at 2 years and secondary outcomes included health-related quality of life ( HRQL ) , assessed with Short Form ( 36 ) Health Survey ( SF-36 ) . RESULTS MWP was not significantly ( p = 0.104 ) improved in the INV versus the NON group . Two SF-36 physical subscales , Bodily Pain ( p < 0.01 ) and Role Physical ( p < 0.05 ) improved significantly more in the INV versus the NON group . There were 7 % crossovers against the study protocol in the INV group . CONCLUSIONS Although invasive treatment did not show any significant advantage regarding MWP , the HRQL improvements associated with invasive treatment tentatively suggest secondary benefits of this regimen . On the other h and , a primary non-invasive treatment strategy seems to be accepted by most IC patients
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 .