Quality of life and objective disease criteria in patients with intermittent claudication in general practice

The quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic diseases is an important decision criterion for medical treatment, especially in primary care settings. It is known that subjective sickness feelings often cannot be correlated with objective disease criteria.

The aim of the study was to determine the QoL of patients with intermittent claudication with the arterial morphology, haemodynamic parameters and functional disability of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD).

In 150 patients with stable intermittent claudication, the health-related QoL was compared with the angiogram score, the resting Doppler pressure values, and the initial claudication distance (ICD) and absolute claudication distance (ACD) with treadmill exercise.

The QoL did not correlate significantly with either the angiogram score or the ankle systolic blood pressure and ankle brachial index. ICD and ACD correlated significantly with the QoL activity subscales of pain, complaints and functional status (P < 0.001). In a multiple regression analysis, ACD and body mass index were the most predictive variables for the QoL.

The QoL of PAOD patients is independent of the peripheral Doppler pressure and the angiographic severity of the disease. The most important criterion for the QoL is the patient's functional disability.