[Peripheral arteriopathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus].
OBJECTIVE
To find the prevalence of peripheral arteriopathy (PA) in type 2 diabetics registered at a Health Centre, to detect their main risk factors and examine the usefulness of the portable Doppler in Primary Care consultations.


METHODS
A crossover descriptive study.


METHODS
Urban Health Centre.


METHODS
All the type 2 diabetics registered.


RESULTS
Anamnesis, physical examination, analysis and base ECG were performed. A portable Doppler determined systolic blood pressure in the lower extremities (foot and posterior tibial arteries) and brachial arteries in order to calculate the ankle/arm index (AAI). PA well recorded in the clinical history and AAI < or = 0.90 were considered criteria of PA. Diabetics with AAI > or = 1.25 were analysed separately. 289 patients with an average age of 65.3 (+/- 10.8 SD) were studied. 45.7% were men and 67% had Diabetes Mellitus for less than 10 years. 37.4% followed a dietary treatment and 21.1% were treated with insulin. Multivariate analysis showed that risk factors were: tobacco dependency, age, Hypertension and the type of treatment for the DM.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of PA found (21.4%) was very much higher than what had been previously diagnosed (6.9%). Identified risk factors were tobacco dependency, age, Hypertension and the type of DM treatment. A portable Doppler is easy to handle and allows peripheral arteriopathy to be diagnosed at an early stage.
Bundó
M
M
Area Básica de Salud Ronda Prim (ICS), Mataró, Barcelona.
Aubà
J
J
Vallés
R
R
Torner
O
O
Pérez
A M
AM
Massons
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors