Longitudinal Improvement in Patient Reported Outcome Measures Following Supervised Exercise Therapy for Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease

Background: Symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with severe morbidity and poor quality of life. Although data suggest that supervised exercise therapy (SET) may improve symptoms, few studies have evaluated longitudinal changes in patient reported outcomes among a real-world PAD population. Methods: Consecutive patients with symptomatic PAD treated at a single tertiary care center and referred for SET were enrolled. Patient reported outcomes were assessed at baseline and at 30 days, 6-months, and 1-year post-treatment through an electronic survey. The primary outcome was the change in the Peripheral Artery Questionnaire (PAQ) summary score from baseline to each time point. A change in PAQ summary score of >8 has been established as clinically meaningful improvement. Results: Twenty-nine patients enrolled in the study received SET who had a mean baseline PAQ score 46.9±16.5. Following treatment, the mean PAQ score at 30 days, 6 months and 1 year were 61.0 ±20.7, 70.4 ±16.2 and 67.0 ±13.9, respectively (Figure 1), corresponding to a 14.1 point, 23.5 point and 20.1 point improvement in PAQ score. Conclusion: In this real-world assessment of patient reported outcomes following SET for the management of symptomatic PAD, treatment demonstrated consistent long-term improvement in patient reported outcomes as measured by the PAQ. Future work assessing the long-term durability of these changes is ongoing.