Loading...
In a 2006 systematic review of eight small studies, supervised exercise programs were superior to unsupervised exercise for lengthening walking distance in patients with intermittent vascular claudication. Now, Dutch researchers have conducted a trial with 304 patients — a cohort nearly equal to that of the previous trials combined. All patients had ankle-brachial indexes <0.90 (mean, 0.66) and could walk no farther than 500 m (median, 250 m).
Patients were randomized to three treatments: (1) verbal advice and written instructions to walk at home until maximum pain nine times daily; (2) supervised exercise sessions with a physical therapist, initially two or three times weekly, then less often; or (3) the same supervised exercise interventio…