Health status in veterans undergoing noninvasive lower extremity arterial evaluation

The health status of outpatients (n = 299) undergoing Lower extremity arter ial Doppler studies (LES) in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center-based vascul ar laboratory was assessed from 9/95 through 6/96 using the SF-36 Health Su rvey. The purpose of this study was to compare health status of these outpa tients to national norms and to determine whether Doppler-derived ankle/bra chial indices (ABI) correlated with the eight health concepts measured by t he SF-36 Health Survey. Physical functioning BF), role limitations by physi cal illness (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), soc ial functioning (SF), role limitations by emotional illness (RE), and menta l health (MH) were more impaired in study patients (65.9 +/- 9.6 years of a ge) undergoing LES than national norms for males greater than or equal to 6 5 years old (P < 0.0001). In fact, each health concept was below the 25th p ercentile of the national norms. PF was 33.4 +/- 22.4 for outpatients compa red to the national norm of 65.8 +/- 28.3. Physical functioning was the onl y SF-36 health concept defined above which correlated with lowest ABI (r = 0.15; P = 0.012), adjusting for age but not comorbidities. Veterans undergo ing only carotid duplex during the study period (n = 169) were compared to the veterans undergoing only LES (n = 251) during the study. PF, RP, BP, GH ,VT, SF, and RE were significantly more impaired in those undergoing only L ES compared with carotid duplex (P < 0.05). Veteran outpatients referred to a vascular laboratory have broad-based and profound impairments in health status. In addition, only physical functioning correlated with ABI, a measu re of lower extremity arterial disease severity. (C) 1999 Academic Press.