title: Differences between women and men with intermittent claudication: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intermittent claudication (IC) and its consequences have customarily been underestimated in women. Our study aimed to determine the differences on functional and quality-of-life issues between women and men in a large group of claudicants.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was an observational, cross-sectional, nonrandomized, multicenter study of 1,641 claudicants (406 women). Information was collected from patients' medical history, a physical examination, the ankle-brachial index (ABI), the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ), and the European Quality of Life Questionnaire (EQ-5D).
  
  
  RESULTS
  On average, women with IC were older than men with IC (70.0 vs. 67.8 years; p<0.001) and tended to have a different socio-occupational status. Women were more likely to be obese and less likely to smoke or have dyslipidemia (p<0.001). Women were notable for their greater prevalence of cardiac insufficiency (p=0.016) and arrhythmias (p<0.001) and a lower prevalence of ischemic cardiopathy and acute myocardial infarction (p<0.001). At the same time, there was a significantly higher level of osteoarticular diseases in women: arthrosis (p<0.001), arthritis (p<0.001), and lumbar pathology (p=0.006). All the symptoms evaluated that were associated with IC were more frequent in women (p<0.05). The mean ABI was similar in claudicant women and men. Conversely, the parameter estimates of the WIQ were significantly lower in women (by 4.3%, and 6.5%, respectively; p=0.003). Likewise, the EQ-5D score was 7% lower in women than in men (from 0.52 to 0.59; p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women claudicants have higher risk factors and more frequent cardiovascular comorbidity than men do. Women have a lower capacity for exercise and a poorer quality of life than male claudicants, despite having a similar ABI. These poorer outcomes in women can be partially explained by the presence of greater osteoarticular comorbidity.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Angiology and Vascular Surgery, Hospital Universitario de Salamanca-IBSAL , Salamanca, Spain .
authors.forename: Francisco S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Lozano
authors.forename: José R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: González-Porras
authors.forename: José R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: March
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carrasco
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lobos
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016138:Walking