Objectives: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with morbidity and mortality of coronary heart disease and stroke. Hypertension is an independent risk factor for peripheral arterial disease. However, the prevalence and risk factors of PAD in hypertensive patients have not been studied in China.
Methods: In order to investigate the prevalence of PAD and its risk factors in China, a cross-sectional study was carried out. A total of 4716 patients with hypertension and 833 age-gender matched people without hypertension were recruited; age 40 to 75 years, from seven rural communities. PAD was defined as an ankle-brachial index (ABI) <or= 0.9 in either leg; hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure >or=140 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure >or=90 mm Hg, or history of antihypertensive drug use.
Results: The prevalence of PAD is 8.7% (n = 408) in patients with hypertension (n = 4716), higher than in people without hypertension (5.0%, n = 833, P = .004). Hypertensive patients with PAD were older, (61 +/- 8.6 vs 58 +/- 8.6, P < .01), had more conventional cardiovascular risk factors including systolic blood pressure (170 +/- 22.6 vs 167 +/- 22.7, P < .01), pulse pressure (72 +/- 19.7 vs 68 +/- 18.9, P < .01), blood glucose (5.8 +/- 2.2 vs 5.6 +/- 1.7, P < .05), total cholesterol (5.7 +/- 1.3 vs 5.5 +/- 1.1, P < .05), and serum uric acid (355 +/- 98.0 vs 293 +/- 86.2, P < .05) than the hypertensive patients without PAD. After adjusting for gender, age, and other cardiovascular risk factors by using multiple logistical regression analysis, PAD was still associated with current smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 1.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-2.29), history of stroke (OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.12-2.00), serum uric acid (OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.10-1.59), and total cholesterol (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.10-1.59).
Conclusion: This study reports, for the first time, the prevalence of PAD in Chinese patients with hypertension, which is quite different from that in westerners, and that PAD is independently associated with conventional cardiovascular risk factors.