Summary of Findings:

The study assesses the effectiveness of mobile health (mhealth) technologies in improving walking distance for individuals with intermittent claudication (IC), a symptom of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The research involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing mhealth interventions to usual care or supervised exercise programs.

Key Results:

• The review included four RCTs with 614 participants with IC, with interventions lasting 3 to 12 months.
• No clear evidence was found that mhealth interventions improved absolute walking distance compared to usual care (mean difference 9.99 meters, 95% CI -27.96 to 47.93; low-certainty evidence).
• There was no clear difference in major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) between mhealth and control groups (risk ratio 1.37, 95% CI 0.07 to 28.17; low-certainty evidence).
• Outcomes like change in claudication walking distance, amputation-free survival, revascularisation-free survival, major adverse limb events (MALE), and above-ankle amputations were not reported in the studies.

Importance:

This research is important as it explores the potential of mhealth technologies to enhance physical activity in adults with IC, which could lead to improved health outcomes and quality of life. However, the current evidence is of low certainty due to risks of bias, imprecision, and inconsistency.

Contribution to Literature:

The study contributes to the literature by providing a systematic evaluation of mhealth interventions for IC, highlighting the need for larger, well-designed RCTs to determine their effectiveness reliably.