Summary: Background: Supervised Exercise Therapy (SET) improves walking performance in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and intermittent claudication, yet implementation and adherence remain inconsistent. This study evaluated functional outcomes, ankle–brachial index (ABI), quality of life (QoL), and adherence to SET in a real-world clinical setting. Materials and methods: This monocentric retrospective cohort study included 190 patients with PAD Fontaine stage II treated at a university vascular outpatient clinic between 01.01.2018 and 31.12.2022. Exposure was participation in SET compared with standard care without SET. Claudication onset distance (COD), peak walking distance (PWD), and ABI were assessed at baseline and after 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. Health-related QoL was evaluated using the SF-36 questionnaire. Adherence and reasons for dropout or non-participation were extracted from medical records. Results: Of the 190 patients (mean age 71.4 years; 60.5% male), 32 (16.8%) completed 12 months of SET, while 158 (83.2%) served as the comparison group. SET participants were older and predominantly male. COD and PWD improved significantly after 6 months (p = .0001 and p = .041) and continued to rise through 24 months, whereas ABI showed no significant changes. Adherence to SET was low. Dropout was mainly related to clinical deterioration, comorbidities, or hospitalisation, with additional sociodemographic and motivational barriers contributing to non-participation. SF-36 scores did not differ significantly, although trends toward reduced pain and improved physical functioning were observed. Conclusions: In this single-centre cohort, SET was associated with improved walking performance but low adherence and no significant changes in ABI or overall QoL.
Garabet et al. (Wed,) studied this question.