title: Prevalence of symptomatic leg ischaemia in a Swedish community--an epidemiological study.
abstract: The prevalence of symptomatic leg ischaemia (SLI) was studied using a standardised postal questionnaire and by measuring ankle systolic blood pressure among those with leg pain. All individuals, aged 50-89 years, of both sexes (n = 2748) in a community of 7524 inhabitants were included. The overall questionnaire response rate was 92%, of whom 441 (17%) reported any form of leg pain. Ankle systolic blood pressure (ASBP) was measured in 353 (80%) of those. Ankle/brachial index (ABI) < or = 0.8 was chosen as the criterion for verified SLI. One hundred and seven (30%) had a verified SLI (ABI < or = 0.8). Hospital records could be reviewed in 83% of the non-responders, and revealed corresponding distributions of risk factors among the non-responders and the questionnaire-responders. Risk factor frequencies among ASBP-examined and not examined individuals were also comparable. The overall prevalence of SLI in the age 50-89 years was 4.1%, ranging from 1.5% in the age decade of 50-59 years, to maximum 7.1% in the decade 70-79 years. A slight but not significant male predominance was recorded, except for the age decade 70-79 years. The prevalence of SLI in the whole community population was approximately 2000/100,000 of which 5% were possible candidates for vascular intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Skau
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jönsson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000842:Ankle / Q000098:blood supply; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007511:Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology