Winners do what they fear: exercise and peripheral arterial disease—an umbrella review

This systematic review aims to evaluate and summarize findings from published meta-analyses on the effects of regular exercise in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The review will assess the impact of exercise on functional parameters, health-related quality of life, haemodynamic parameters, physical activity levels, adverse events, and mortality.

A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases (up to May 2023) to identify meta-analyses including randomized controlled trials that examined the effects of regular exercise in patients with PAD. Sixteen studies, with a total of 198 meta-analyses, were identified. Results revealed with strong evidence that patients with PAD who exercised improved functional and health-related quality of life parameters. Specifically, supervised aerobic exercise (i.e. walking to moderate–maximum claudication pain) improves maximum walking distance [mean difference (MD): 177.94 m, 95% confidence interval (CI) 142.29–213.60; P < 0.00001; I²: 65%], pain-free walking distance (fixed MD: 68.78 m, 95% CI 54.35–83.21; P < 0.00001; I²: 67%), self-reported walking ability [i.e. distance score (MD: 9.22 points, 95% CI 5.74–12.70; P < 0.00001; I²: 0%), speed score (MD: 8.71 points, 95% CI 5.64–11.77; P < 0.00001, I²: 0%), stair-climbing score (MD: 8.02 points, 95% CI 4.84–11.21; P < 0.00001, I²: 0%), and combined score (MD: 8.76 points, 95% CI 2.78–14.74; P < 0.0001, I²: 0%)], aerobic capacity (fixed MD: 0.62 mL/kg/min, 95% CI 0.47–0.77, P < 0.00001, I²: 64%), and pain score (MD: 7.65, 95% CI 3.15–12.15; P = 0.0009; I²: 0%), while resistance exercise improves lower limb strength (standardized mean difference: 0.71, 95% CI 0.29–1.13, P = 0.0009; I²: 0%]. Regarding other outcomes, such as haemodynamic parameters, no significant evidence was found, while physical activity levels, adverse events, and mortality require further investigation.

Synthesis of the currently available meta-analyses suggests that regular exercise may be beneficial for a broad range of functional tasks improving health-related quality of life in patients with PAD. Supervised aerobic exercise is the best type of exercise to improve walking-related outcomes and pain, while resistance exercise is more effective to improve lower limb strength.