Arterial Peripheral Disease-Assessment by Ankle Brachial Index

Peripheral arterial disease is a syndrome predominantly atherosclerosis, which occurs in a partial or total occlusion of an artery, usually in the arms or legs and can be in association with other cardiovascular problems. Aim: It aims at the comparison of peripheral arterial disease in males and females for different age groups. This will allow correlating different risk factors with each age group. Moreover, it is in the scope of this study to learn which gender is most affected by PAD in the population living in Castelo Branco, a city in the center of Portugal. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dr. Lopes Dias School of Health (ESALD), the Santa Casa da Mesericordia and the headquarters of the Volunteer Fire fighters of the city of Castelo Branco (Portugal), between September 2011 and February 2012. Results: There was a 17.5% prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in the city of Castelo Branco, with predominance in males (56.9%). It was found that the occurrence of stroke, of acute myocardial infarction and the presence of hypertension increases the risk of developing pathology 7,33, 6,41 and 5,74 times, respectively. Conclusion: This study reveals the importance of high prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in patients with more than 75 years old (83.3%) and alert for the presence of cardiovascular problems which increases the occurrence of this disease in about eight times. Further investigations are needed to properly assess the importance of the risk factors for the various age groups and verify the impact of preventive and therapeutic measures on the complications of this disease overlooked by society.