Intermittent claudication and physical exercise: effectiveness of a home-based program

Authors

  • Ana Encarnação Hospital S. Francisco Xavier. Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Dora Quintans Unidade de Saúde do Aeroporto de Lisboa. Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Luís Gonçalves Fisioterapeuta
  • Maria Teresa Tomás Área Científica de Fisioterapia, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Elisabete Carolino Área Científica de Matemática, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Isabel Coutinho Área Científica de Fisioterapia, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Duarte Medeiros Hospital de Egas Moniz. Lisboa, Portugal.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25758/set.284

Keywords:

Physical exercise, Intermittent claudication, Home-based program, Distance until claudication, Maximal distance walked, 6 Minutes Walk Test

Abstract

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) has a high incidence in the general population and 12% to 20% of the population with more than 60 years has already clinical symptoms, such as intermittent claudication (IC), pain, loss of strength, and functional incapacity. There are already some studies that suggest the possible positive effects of physical exercise on the functional consequences of PAD. The purpose of this study was to verify the results of a home-based (HB) weekly supervised physical exercise program in patients with IC as a consequence of PAD in lower limbs, and observe the medium number of diary steps walked by the subjects of our study. Fourteen subjects (72.4±6.7 years) with IC participated in our study. Through the 6 minutes walk test (6MWT) we have assessed the distance until claudication (DC) (distance walked until pain), maximal distance walked (MDW) (distance walked until maximal pain), and functional capacity (FC) (total number of meters walked in 6MWT). We assessed also the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) with CR10 of Borg and the highest number of repetitions of heel elevation. We have applied for an HB program for 8 weeks. This program included daily execution of heel elevations for leg muscles and a walk. Results show elevation in DC (178,8±75.5 vs 259.6±116.7; p=0.01), MDW (255.7±104.4 vs 326.5±137.9; p=0.008), FC (299.1±115.1 vs (389.6±102.1; p=0.000) and EH (42.1±14.7 vs 59.9±21.6; p=0.002), respectively before and after the HB program. The RPE has also decreased (3.1±1.1 vs 2.6±0.6) but not significantly. The number of steps walked and observed with a pedometer was 4990±1872 steps a day. Conclusions – A weekly supervised HB program
with walking and strength training of leg muscles shows effectiveness with these patients in the relief of symptoms of IC.

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Published

2009-11-15

Issue

Section

Artigos

How to Cite

Intermittent claudication and physical exercise: effectiveness of a home-based program. (2009). Saúde & Tecnologia, 04, 38-45. https://doi.org/10.25758/set.284