Outcomes following supervised exercise and home-based exercise for patients with intermittent claudication

Intermittent claudication (IC) is the most common symptom of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) which presents as a consequence of muscle ischaemia resulting from the atherosclerotic obstruction to arterial flow. High-quality evidence (Lane et al., 2017) shows that exercise programmes provide important benefits compared with usual care in improving pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with IC, but do not improve ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI).

Retrospective data were analysed to examine walking and ABPI outcomes for participants who completed a 12-week course of supervised or home-based exercise. All participants had a history of IC.

46 participants (mean age 69±11 years; 76% male; 29% current smokers) referred for exercise were assessed, completed a 12-week course of exercise (home-based or supervised) and subsequently attended for re-assessment. Claudication onset distance (COD) increased by 363% (mean improvement 344.7 ± 265.1m; p < .001) and peak walking distance (PWD) by 324.4% in the supervised exercise group; COD increased by 30.6% (mean improvement 32.8 ± 57.2 m; p = 0.026) and PWD by 31.5% in the home-based exercise group. Resting ABPI for the total cohort significantly improved from 0.82 ± 0.25 at A1 to 0.88 ± 0.25 at A2 (p = 0.027).

A 12-week course of supervised exercise results in significantly greater walking distance outcomes (COD and PWD) than unmonitored home-based exercise. In contrast with previous findings (Lane et al. 2017), this retrospective study demonstrated a significant improvement in resting ABPI with both supervised exercise as well as home-based exercise.

A 12-week programme of exercise favourably influenced walking and ABPI outcomes for patients with IC. Both home-based exercise and supervised individualised exercise increased walking distances, but the magnitude of the improvement in walking outcomes was greater in individuals who attended supervised exercise therapy.