title: Peripheral artery disease: epidemiology and global perspectives.
abstract: Global populations are undergoing a major epidemiological transition in which the burden of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases is shifting rapidly from high-income to low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is no exception, so that greater focus is now required on the prevention and management of this disease in less-advantaged countries. In this Review, we examine the epidemiology of PAD and, where feasible, take a global perspective. However, the dearth of publications in LMICs means an unavoidable over-reliance on studies in high-income countries. Research to date suggests that PAD might affect a greater proportion of women than men in LMICs. Although factors such as poverty, industrialization, and infection might conceivably influence the development of PAD in such settings, the ageing of the population and increase in traditional cardiovascular risk factors, such as smoking, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, are likely to be the main driving forces.
authors.affiliation: Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK.
authors.forename: F Gerry R
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Fowkes
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dupuytren University Hospital, 2 Avenue Martin Luther King, 87000 Limoges, France.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Aboyans
authors.affiliation: Centre for Population Health, Burnet Institute, 85 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Freya J I
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Fowkes
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 675 North Saint Clair, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
authors.forename: Mary M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.affiliation: Center for Translational Research and Implementation Science, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6705 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20824, USA.
authors.forename: Uchechukwu K A
authors.initials: UK
authors.lastname: Sampson
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Criqui
mesh_terms: D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D014943:Global Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000453:epidemiology; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors