Prevalence of Peripheral Arterial Disease among Adult Patients Attending Outpatient Clinic at a General Hospital in South Angola

Abstract EN

Background.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common manifestation of atherosclerosis, whose prevalence is increasing worldwide, and is associated with all-cause mortality.

However, no study has assessed this disease in Huambo.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of PAD in patients attending an outpatient clinic at a general hospital in Huambo, South Angola.

Methods.

A cross-sectional study, including 115 patients aged 40 years and older attending an outpatient service.

The evaluation included a basic questionnaire for lifestyle and medical history and ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurement using hand-held Doppler.

PAD was defined as an ABI ≤0.9 in either lower limb.

Results.

Of 115 patients, 62.60% were women with a median age of 52.5 (range of 40 to 91) years.

The prevalence of PAD was 42.6% (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 95%: 33.91–52.17%).

Among patients with PAD, 95.92% had mild disease and 4.08% moderate to severe disease.

The main risk factor for PAD was age (≥60 years) ( χ 2 = 3.917 , P ≤ 0.05 ).

The prevalence was slightly higher in men and hypertensive subjects, but without statistical significance with ORs of 1.5 (95% CI: 0.69–3.21) and 1.42 (95% CI: 0.64–3.17), respectively.

Hypertension was also high in the group (66.95%).

Conclusion.

The prevalence of PAD was 42.6%, higher in those aged 60 years and older.

More studies, with representative samples, are necessary to clarify PAD prevalence and associated risk factors.