The findings underscored the complexity of managing PAD and claudication, highlighting the need for a nuanced approach that integrates personalised care, improved patient education, and improving the availability of healthcare services for patients with PAD and claudication.
Key Findings
Results
Patients with claudication reported experiencing a reduction in their overall health status and quality of life.
Three patients with claudication participated in focus group discussions recruited from vascular clinics of two NHS Scotland Health Boards.
Participants were purposively recruited using a phenomenological qualitative approach.
Reduction in overall health status and quality of life was identified as a distinct theme emerging from the patient group.
PAD and claudication were described as significantly affecting mobility, leading to disability and reduced participation in daily activities.
Results
Patients reported that comorbidities had a negative impact on their experience of living with claudication.
The negative impact of comorbidities was identified as a separate theme unique to the patient group.
Three patients with claudication participated in the focus group discussions.
This finding highlights the compounding effect of multiple conditions on patients' daily lives and disease management.
Comorbidities were discussed in the context of patients' overall experience of reduced quality of life.
Results
Both patients and healthcare professionals identified the need for appropriate patient education and information sources as a shared concern.
This theme emerged as overlapping between both the patient group and the healthcare professional group.
Three healthcare professionals and three patients participated in separate focus group discussions.
Interventions aimed at strengthening patient education and awareness from the point of diagnosis were highlighted as crucial.
Thematic analysis of transcribed focus group discussion texts was used to identify this finding.
Results
Both patients and healthcare professionals perceived disparity in the availability of healthcare services and resources.
Perceptions of disparity in the availability of healthcare services/resources was identified as an overlapping theme across both groups.
Participants were recruited from vascular clinics of two NHS Scotland Health Boards.
This theme was identified through thematic analysis of focus group transcriptions.
Improving the availability of healthcare services was highlighted as a key recommendation arising from the findings.
Results
Healthcare professionals identified heterogeneity in patients' clinical presentation as requiring tailored, individualised approaches to care.
Heterogeneity in patients' clinical presentation requiring tailored approaches was a theme unique to the healthcare professional group.
Three healthcare professionals participated in focus group discussions.
This finding supports the paper's conclusion that a nuanced approach integrating personalised care is necessary.
Healthcare professionals were purposively recruited from vascular clinics of two NHS Scotland Health Boards.
Results
Healthcare professionals reported that patients held unrealistic expectations regarding their condition and its management.
Unrealistic patients' expectations was identified as a distinct theme emerging from the healthcare professional group.
Three healthcare professionals participated in the focus group discussions.
This theme was identified through thematic analysis of transcribed focus group text.
This finding contributes to the understanding of challenges faced by healthcare professionals in managing claudication.
Results
Healthcare professionals emphasised the positive impact of exercise programmes on outcomes for patients with claudication.
Emphasis on the positive impact of exercise programmes on patients' outcomes was a theme unique to the healthcare professional group.
The abstract notes that regular physical activity improves walking capacity, quality of life, and reduces cardiovascular risk.
Despite this, many individuals with claudication remain inactive, worsening disease outcomes.
Existing interventions have struggled to promote sustained increases in physical activity, providing context for this emphasis by clinicians.
Methods
The study used a phenomenological qualitative design with a small purposive sample of six participants from two NHS Scotland Health Boards.
Six participants total were recruited: three people with claudication and three healthcare professionals.
Participants were purposively recruited from vascular clinics of two NHS Scotland Health Boards.
Data were collected through focus group discussions and analysed thematically.
The study was approved by Glasgow Caledonian University's ethics committee and the NHS Research Ethics Committee.
A phenomenological approach was employed to explore lived experiences.
What This Means
This research suggests that living with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and claudication — a condition causing leg pain during walking due to reduced blood flow — significantly affects people's daily lives, mobility, and overall wellbeing. Patients in this study reported that the condition, combined with other health problems they had, reduced their quality of life considerably. Both patients and the healthcare professionals caring for them felt that access to healthcare services was unequal, and that better information and education about the condition was needed, particularly from the time of diagnosis.
From the healthcare professionals' perspective, this research suggests that patients present with a wide variety of symptoms and needs, making a one-size-fits-all approach ineffective. Clinicians noted that patients sometimes had unrealistic expectations about their treatment and recovery, while also recognising that structured exercise programmes can meaningfully improve patient outcomes. Despite the known benefits of physical activity for people with claudication, getting patients to remain consistently active remains a significant challenge.
This research suggests that improving care for people with claudication requires a combination of personalised treatment plans, stronger patient education delivered early in the diagnosis process, and better availability of healthcare services and resources. The small sample size of six participants means findings should be interpreted cautiously, but the study highlights important gaps between what patients need and what the healthcare system currently provides, pointing toward areas where targeted improvements could make a meaningful difference for this patient group.
Anieto E, Dall P, Abaraogu U, Anieto I, Siddiqui T, Ramsay C, et al.. (2026). Patients' experiences living with claudication and healthcare professionals' perspectives of managing the condition: A qualitative study.. Journal of vascular nursing : official publication of the Society for Peripheral Vascular Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvn.2026.07.006