Short stature in men is associated with subclinical peripheral arterial disease.
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) affects approximately 202 million individuals around the world and is associated with a high risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and death. Although there is a clear inverse association between adult height and the risk of cardiovascular disease, little is known about the relationship between height and PAD. The aim of our study was to assess the relationship between subclinical PAD and height.



In a cross-sectional cardiovascular risk factor study in southwestern Finland, ankle brachial index (ABI) and other risk factors were measured from a total of 972 cardiovascular risk subjects derived from the general population. None of them had previously diagnosed diabetes, cardiovascular or renal disease or intermittent claudication. Subjects with an ABI ≤ 0.90 were categorized as having subclinical PAD.



The average age of the study subjects was 58.1 ± 6.7 years for men and 58.8 ± 6.9 years for women. The prevalence of subclinical PAD was 5 % (95 % CI 3 % - 7 %) (23/455) among men and 5 % (95 % CI 3 %-7 %) (26/517) among women. The mean ABI among men and women was 1.09 ± 0.12 and 1.08 ± 0.12, respectively. In men, there was an inverse association between height and the prevalence of subclinical PAD (p < 0.001) along with a positive association between height and ABI values (p < 0.001). In a multivariate model, height, age and current smoking status remained independent factors that were associated with subclinical PAD in men, whereas in women, only pulse pressure was associated with subclinical PAD.



Short stature in men is associated with subclinical PAD and lower ABI values.
1 Department of General Practice, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.|2 Department of Surgery, Satakunta Hospital District, Pori, Finland.
Arto
A
Heikkilä
3 Department of Vascular Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
Maarit
M
Venermo
4 Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Hannu
H
Kautiainen
2 Department of Surgery, Satakunta Hospital District, Pori, Finland.
Pertti
P
Aarnio
1 Department of General Practice, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.|5 Department of Primary Care, Central Satakunta Health Federation of Municipalities, Harjavalta, Finland.
Päivi
P
Korhonen
D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D001827:Body Height; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors
Height; ankle-brachial index; peripheral arterial disease