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 .
Comparison of Walking With Poles and Traditional Walking for Peripheral Arterial Disease Rehabilitation
PURPOSE : The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a 24-week walking with poles rehabilitation program with a traditional 24-week walking program on physical function in patients with peripheral arterial disease ( PAD ) . METHODS : Patients with PAD ( n = 103 , age = 69.7 ± 8.9 years , ankle-brachial index < 0.90 or evidence of calcified vessels ) were r and omized into a rehabilitation program of traditional walking ( n = 52 ) or walking with poles ( n = 51 ) . Patients exercised 3 times per week for 24 weeks . Exercise endurance was measured by time walked on a constant work rate treadmill test at 6 , 12 , and 24 weeks . Perceived physical function was measured by the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 and Walking Impairment Question naire . Tissue oxygenation was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy . RESULTS : Patients assigned to the traditional walking group walked longer at 24 weeks than those assigned to the pole walking group ( 21.10 ± 17.07 minutes and 15.02 ± 12.32 minutes , respectively , P = .037 ) . There were no differences between the groups in tissue oxygenation . However , there was a significant lengthening of time for which it took to reach minimum tissue oxygenation values ( P < .001 ) within the groups on the constant work rate test . There were no differences between the groups in perceived physical function as measured by the Physical Function subscale on the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 or perceived walking distance as measured by the Walking Distance subscale on the Walking Impairment Scale . CONCLUSIONS : Traditional walking was superior to walking with poles in increasing walking endurance on a constant work rate treadmill test for patients with PAD
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 .