Cross-sectional study of the ankle-brachial index and cardiovascular risk factors in postmenopausal women.
BACKGROUND
The incidence of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and cardiovascular (CV) events in the female population has been on the increase.


OBJECTIVE
To analyse the risk factors of a CV event and PAD in women and to assess the usefulness of the ankle-brachial index (ABI).


METHODS
Evaluation of selected parameters in a cohort of 365 women living in the same district. The following data were prospectively recorded: weight, height, waist size, hip circumference, smoking, the intima-media complex, ABI value, and laboratory results. PAD symptoms, CV events and neurological events were noted. ABI was analysed assuming pathology for values: ≤ 0.9 or ≤ 1.0.


RESULTS
Age, plasma glucose level, atrial fibrillation, and nicotine addiction were correlated independently with CV disease and stroke (p < 0.001). The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, height, and systolic blood pressure were correlated independently with ABI values (p < 0.05). There was no correlation between the occurrence of a CV event in the past and the ABI, irrespective of the cut-off point for the reference value (p = NS).


CONCLUSIONS
There is no evidence that stricter criteria for the assessment of ABI better represent the vascular status in the female population.
Clinic of Vascular Surgery and Angiology, Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland. pwierzchowski@cm.umk.pl.
Paweł
P
Wierzchowski
Tadeusz
T
Dereziński
Arkadiusz
A
Migdalski
Łukasz
Ł
Woda
Beata
B
Wąsikowska
Grzegorz
G
Jakubowski
Arkadiusz
A
Jawień
D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D017698:Postmenopause; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL
ankle–brachial index; peripheral artery disease in women; risk factors of cardiovascular events