Prevalence and clinical correlates of peripheral arterial disease in the Framingham Offspring Study.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with an increased risk for mortality. We sought to assess the prevalence of PAD and its risk factors in a population-based sample.
METHODS: We examined 1554 males and 1759 females with a mean age of 59 years who attended a Framingham Offspring Study examination from 1995 to 1998. PAD was defined by an ankle-brachial blood pressure index of <0.9. Age- and sex-adjusted and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with PAD.
RESULTS: The prevalences of PAD, current intermittent claudication, lower extremity bruits and surgical intervention were 3.9%, 1.9%, 2.4% and 1.4% in males and 3.3%, 0.8%, 2.3% and 0.5% in females. Hypercholesterolemia, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, diabetes, hypertension, current smoking, pack-years of smoking, body mass index, fibrinogen, and prevalent coronary disease were associated with PAD in age- and sex-adjusted analyses. Odds ratios and 95% CIs for significant associations identified from multivariable analyses are as follows: each 10 years of age, 2.6 (2.0, 3.4); hypertension, 2.2 (1.4, 3.5); smoking, 2.0 (1.1, 3.4); 10 pack-years of smoking, 1.3 (1.2, 1.4); 50 mg/dL of fibrinogen, 1.2 (1.1, 1.4); 5 mg/dL of high-density lipoprotein, 0.9 (0.8, 1.0); coronary disease, 2.6 (1.6, 4.1).
CONCLUSIONS: Smoking cessation and hypertension control are important goals in the aim to reduce PAD and its associated impact on quality of life, functional decline, and risk for subsequent cardiovascular disease.