RISK-FACTORS AND CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH ASYMPTOMATICPERIPHERAL ARTERIAL OCCLUSIVE DISEASE - THE LIMBURG PAOD STUDY

Objectives - To describe the risk-factor profile and cardiovascular co morbidity of asymptomatic peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) . Design - A cross-sectional survey. Asymptomatic PAOD was defined as an ankle-brachial pressure index < 0.95, measured on two consecutive o ccasions, without intermittent claudication. Logistic regression analy ses were performed to investigate independent associations between age , gender, smoking status, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, hypercholes terolaemia, physical activity, a family history of cardiovascular dise ase, the occurrence of ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular dis ease (CeVD) and asymptomatic PAOD. Setting - 18 general practices in t he province of Limburg, the Netherlands. Subjects - A total of 3650 su bjects, aged 40-78 years. Main results - Asymptomatic PAOD was present in 8.6% (n = 314) and symptomatic disease in 3.8% (n = 138) of the pa rticipants. Age, smoking status, hypertension, and diabetes were signi ficantly associated with asymptomatic PAOD. The ratio of asymptomatic to symptomatic PAOD was higher among the younger age groups. Male gend er, hypertension and smoking status were stronger associated with symp tomatic PAOD compared with asymptomatic PAOD. Asymptomatic subjects ha d more IHD and CeVD comorbidity compared with the healthy population. Conclusion - Our findings suggest that the risk-factor profile and car diovascular comorbidity of asymptomatic subjects is comparable to clau dicants. Preventive efforts could be made to diminish the influence of Especially smoking, diabetes and hypertension in asymptomatic subject s.