title: Characteristics of prevalence in peripheral arterial disease and correlative risk factors and comorbidities among female natural population in China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and correlating risk factors and comorbidities in a natural female population in China, and to study the characteristics of atherosclerotic disease in females.
  
  
  METHODS
  Natural population from communities in several cities and districts including Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang in China were investigated as study subjects through cluster multistage and random sampling. Ankle-brachial index (ABI) was measured among participants in the communities by trained investigators and correlative information and clinical data were collected. PAD was defined as an ABI≤0.9 in either leg.
  
  
  RESULTS
  21,152 eligible participants were included in the survey. The prevalence in males and females was 2.52 % and 3.66 %, the standardized prevalence was 1.84% and 4.31% respectively, and the prevalence in females was higher than that in males (p<0.01). The prevalence in females obviously increased (p<0.01) with increasing age. More female participants with PAD were over 69 years old compared with those without PAD (18.8% vs. 10.0%, p=0.000) and more frequently have a smoking habit (11.1% vs. 2.5%, p=0.000), lipid disorders (34.8% vs. 29.2%, p=0.047), diabetes mellitus (14.8% vs. 8.6%, p=0.000), coronary heart disease (16.9% vs. 10.0%, p=0.000) and a history of stroke (6.8% vs. 2.3%, p=0.000). Using multiple logistic regression analysis, older age (>69 years old, OR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.11-2.29), a smoking habit (OR: 5.98, 95% CI: 3.88-9.21), comorbidities of lipid disorders (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.10-1.91), diabetes mellitus (OR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.02-2.11), coronary heart disease (OR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.02-2.19)and a history of stroke (OR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.01-2.91) were correlated with the prevalence of PAD in females in China. Only 0.8% of female patients with PAD had been diagnosed previously.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data suggest that the prevalence of PAD in a female natural population in China is higher than that in males. Many conventional risk factors and comorbidities were correlated with the high prevalence of PAD in females. But only very few female patients with PAD were diagnosed. Thus, more measures should be taken to diagnose, prevent and control PAD in females in China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, the Tenth People's Hospital, Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Center, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hasimu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors