Assessing the Feasibility of Including Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease in to an Established Cardiac Rehabilitation Service.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a progressive disease that occurs as the result of atherosclerotic plaque formation in the major arteries of the leg (Mays, Casserly and Regesteiner, 2013). The main presenting symptom of PAD is intermittent claudication (IC) - exertional pain or discomfort in the calf, thigh or buttock that is relieved with rest. The presence of PAD is a very powerful marker of cardiovascular risk and preventable cardiovascular deaths. Following the initial diagnosis of PAD, for those patients without coronary artery disease the risk of systemic morbidity or mortality in the next 5 years is 50% (AACVPR, 2013). In 2012, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued guidelines stating that supervised exercise programmes (SEPs) should be offered as first-line treatment for people diagnosed PAD. However, there is a national shortage of dedicated SEPs for PAD patients that UK vascular specialists can refer patients to. There has been suggestion that an already established network of Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) departments within the United Kingdom (UK) could cater for this group of patients, as they already have facilities and staff in place. To date, there has been no investigation into whether this would be successful. This research project would investigate if CR programmes could get the same outcomes for PAD patients as a stand-alone PAD rehabilitation programme. The study would investigate the possible positive and negative impact on both the PAD and CR patient groups in attending a combined rehabilitation programme of exercise and education. It will also look at the perceptions of the participants regarding the treatment programme itself.

Inclusion criteria

• General criteria As part of this study participants will be required to wear an accelerometer on the first week and last week of the 12 week study. The accelerometer will be kept in place by a medical dressing (e.g. Tegederm). People with an existing skin condition such as psoriasis or eczema that would be affected by the application of a medical dressing will be excluded from the study.

All participants must be able to start the incremental shuttle walk test (walking speed of 1.8kph, 1.1 mph).

All participants must be able to engage in the exercises prescribed in the programme

Inclusion criteria

- PAD patients:

All patients recruited will have had a recent diagnosis (0 - 12 months) of PAD made by either a vascular surgeon, vascular specialist nurse or specialist podiatrist.

Inclusion criteria

- CAD patients:

All patients recruited to the CR group will have had a recent diagnosis (0-12 months) of CAD (angina, myocardial infarction (MI), or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or valve surgery).

Exclusion criteria

• Exclusion criteria - PAD patients:

Any patient who has had previous intervention for PAD e.g. balloon angioplasty, stent, bypass or medication, or who have previously completed an SEP will be excluded from the study. This is due to the possibility of previous interventions having an impact on patient perceptions.

Participants who are on medication for PAD (e.g. naftidrofuryl oxalate) will also be excluded from the study as this can increase symptom management and improve functional capacity.

Any PAD patient who also has a diagnosis of other cardiovascular conditions such as CAD or stroke, or chronic heart failure will be excluded from this study, as the investigation is looking at the specific improvements in PAD, not CAD gains.

Exclusion criteria

- CAD patients:

Any patient who has had previous diagnosis of PAD will be excluded from the study, as this may mask any gains in improvement due to CAD-specific rehabilitation in the CAD group (Tam et al., 2016).

Any participant who has unstable CAD (e.g. unstable angina) will be excluded from the study as this is a contraindication partaking in structured exercise programme (BACPR, 2012).