Supervised physical activity in patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease: protocol for a randomized clinical trial (ARTPERfit Study)

Abstract

Introduction: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a marker of cardiovascular morbidity, causing disability, loss of mobility and poor quality of life, manifesting clinically in the form of intermittent claudication (IC). Physical exercise increases the distance walked and improves quality of life. The aim of our study will be increased walking distance prolonging the time of onset of pain in patients with symptomatic PAD (IC). Methods and analysis: This study will be performed in Mataró Hospital's vascular surgery service and School of Health Sciences, TecnoCampus. This population comes from 15 primary healthcare centres ofNorth Barcelona, Spain (450 000 inhabitants).This study will be a four-group parallel, longitudinal, randomised controlled trial, blind to analysis.The main primary outcome of this study will be the improvement in pain-free walking distance. Others primary objectives are and improvement in functional status, quality of life and Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI) [...].