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 .
Optimizing supervised exercise therapy for patients with intermittent claudication.
BACKGROUND The first-line intervention for intermittent claudication is usually supervised exercise therapy ( SET ) . The literature describes a range of exercise programs varying in setting , duration , and content . The purpose of the present study was to examine the exercise protocol s offered and to identify the impact of the intensity of the SET programs ( in terms of frequency , duration , and type of exercise ) on improvements in walking distance ( response ) in the first 3 months . The present study is part of the Exercise Therapy in Peripheral Arterial Disease ( EXITPAD ) study , a multicenter r and omized clinical trial comparing the effects of SET provided by regional physiotherapists , with or without daily feedback , on the level of activities with the effects of walking advice . METHODS The analysis included patients r and omized to receive SET with or without feedback . The physical therapists administering the SET were asked to fill out therapy evaluation sheets stating frequency , duration , and type of exercises . The relationship between training volume and the impact on walking distance was explored by dividing training volume data into tertiles and relating them to the median change in maximum walking distance at 3 and 12 months . RESULTS Data of 169 patients were included in the analysis . A SET program consisting of at least two training sessions per week each lasting over 30 minutes , during the first 3 months of a 1-year program tailored to individual patients ' needs led to better results in terms of walking distance after 3 and 12 months than the other variants . The results of our analysis dividing training volume into tertiles suggest that there is a relationship between training volume and improvement in walking distance and that at least 590 minutes of training should be offered in the first 3 months . No differences were found between program involving only walking and a combination of exercises , nor between individual and group training . CONCLUSION A SET programs consisting of at least two training sessions a week , each lasting over 30 minutes , should be offered during the first 3 months of the SET program to optimize improvement in terms of maximum walking distance
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 .