In PAD, improvements greatest during first 2 months of supervised exercise training
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Key takeaways:
- A supervised exercise training program improved functional performance in patients with peripheral artery disease.
- The greatest improvements occurred in the first 2 months of the program.
In patients with peripheral artery disease who underwent a 3-month supervised exercise training program, the greatest improvements in functional performance occurred during the first 2 months, researchers reported.
Stefano Lanzi, PhD, an exercise physiologist in the department of angiology, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and colleagues assessed the time-course evolution of functional performance during a 3-month supervised exercise training program for 90 patients with chronic symptomatic PAD (mean age, 65 years; 32% women).
Compared with baseline, mean 6-minute walk distance significantly improved after the first month (+7%; P < .001), the second month (+13%; P < .001) and the end of the program (+14%; P < .001), Lanzi and colleagues wrote in Vascular Medicine.
Compared with at 1 month, mean 6-minute walk distance significantly improved after the second month (+6%; P < .001) and the end of the program (+7%; P < .001), according to the researchers.
Compared with baseline, Short Physical Performance Battery score improved after 1 month (+9%; P < .001), after 2 months (+11%; P < .001) and after the end of the program (+12%; P < .001), as did stair climbing test score (+17% after 1 month; +24% after 2 months; +25% after end of program; P for all < .001), the researchers wrote.
However, compared with at 2 months, there were no significant differences in any functional performance measures after the end of the program, Lanzi and colleagues wrote.
In addition, there were no significant differences between baseline and after the end of the program for BMI, ankle-brachial index and tibial-brachial index, according to the researchers.
“Performing a monthly assessment of functional performance during training programs could be useful not only in monitoring the timeline of training adaptations but also in improving training guidance and individualization during the [supervised exercise training] program,” Lanzi and colleagues wrote. “The monthly assessment of functional performance during the [supervised exercise training] program should be considered as a unique opportunity to teach tools aiming to promote and sustain high levels of physical activity following training interventions.”
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