Functional improvements following StairMaster vs. treadmill exercise training for patients with intermittent claudication.

Background: Although there have been many studies showing that exercise training is beneficial for patients with peripheral vascular occlusive disease (PVOD), there is little research comparing various modes of training. Previous studies showed that exercise tests performed on a StairMaster (StairMaster Sports/Medical Products, Kirkland, WA) produce responses similar to those elicited by treadmill tests. The purpose of this study was to compare these modes of exercise in a training program for patients with PVOD.
Methods: Of the 23 eligible individuals who began the exercise program, 11 did not complete the regimen due to various complications. Thus, 12 patients were randomly assigned to train for 12 weeks on either a StairMaster (n = 6) or a treadmill (n = 6). Patients underwent progressive and single-stage exercise tests on both exercise modalities before and after training.
Results: Mean exercise time before the onset of claudication pain for all tests rose significantly after training (P <.01), but greater improvements were seen on the specific training apparatus (i.e., treadmill training resulted in improvement in treadmill exercise performance with less improvement noted when tested on the StairMaster, and vice versa). Exercise time to maximal pain increased for the training apparatus only (P <.01). There were no changes in foot transcutaneous oxygen tension or the ankle-brachial blood pressure index.
Conclusions: Both StairMaster and treadmill training improve the exercise capacity of PVOD patients. The training effect is most apparent for the specific training apparatus, but there is some cross-over improvement to the other exercise modality. Thus, StairMaster training is appropriate and can be part of the exercise prescription for treatment of these patients.