It has been well documented, that walking training -- ergotherapie -- has beneficial effects in the conservative treatment of occlusive arterial disease of the lower limbs as can be registered by a marked increase in the walking distance after some weeks or months of physical training. Most of the scientific investigations of this therapy have naturally been directed towards an understanding of the mechanism of the relief of ischemic pains in the working muscles, and only few studies are dealing with the intensity of training required, and with the applicability of training depending on the severity of the disease. The prognostic value of walking training as to social welfare is important because the life expectancy in patients with intermittent claudication seldom is limited by the arterial obstructions of the limbs. The present study is a preliminary report on a controlled clinical trial comparing two types of training programmes after graduation of the disease by distal pressure measurements and with the social prognosis as an important parameter in the evaluation of the treatment. Considerations of the demand for walking training in large groups of ambulatory patients are based on a cardiovascular survey study of Copenhagen men aged 40 to 59.

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