Disease-specific quality of life assessment in intermittent claudication: review

Objectives: intermittent claudication (IC) is a common condition that has a major impact on the patients' quality of life (QoL). Generic QoL instruments often lack sensitivity to detect small but clinically significant variation in QoL. Disease-specific instruments may overcome this problem. This study aims to review various disease-specific QoL instruments available for use in IC and make recommendations for clinical utilization based on validity, reliability and responsiveness. Methods: a detailed literature search and extensive bibliography review of all papers relating to disease-specific QoL and IC. Results: several disease-specific QoL instruments are available for use in patients with IC. The most notable of these are the Claudication Scale (CLAU-S), Sickness Impact Profile-Intermittent Claudication (SIPIC) and the VascuQoL. The Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ) is an objective measure of the patient's walking ability and not a QoL instrument. Conclusion: many of the questionnaires are new and have undergone only a limited validation process. More work is required in this field before any one disease-specific QoL instrument can be recommended for use in patients with IC