Peripheral Arterial Disease in Nova Scotia: Increased Prevalence, Low Public Awareness, and Poor Edinburgh Claudication Questionnaire Sensitivity

Background

This study had the following 3 goals: (i) to assess the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in a Nova Scotian population; (ii) to evaluate the validity of the Edinburgh Claudication Questionnaire (ECQ) in a Nova Scotian context; and (iii) to evaluate Nova Scotian public knowledge about PAD.

Methods

Participants were recruited from 8 sites across Nova Scotia. In 2022, they were recruited at Heartland Tour (HLT) sites—a provincial health-promotion campaign. In 2023, they were recruited in communities coinciding with HLT sites (public [PUB]). Participants completed a demographics questionnaire, ECQ, and had an ankle–brachial index (ABI) measurement. An ABI of < 0.9 was considered positive for presence of PAD.

Results

A total of 417 participants were recruited, 263 from HLT, and 154 from PUB. A total of 398 participants had ABI scores resulting in a PAD prevalence of 2.81% (249 participants) in the HLT group, and 5.37% (149 participants) in the PUB group. A total of 394 participants had both ABI and ECQ scores, with a found sensitivity of 6.67% (confidence interval 0.17%-31.95%) and specificity of 97.63% (confidence interval 95.54%-98.91%). A total of 75% of participants (311 of 417) did not have prior knowledge of PAD.

Conclusions

The PAD prevalences in both cohorts were higher than anticipated, with the PUB cohort being more than double the national average. This finding raises the following question: should specific PAD primary and/or secondary prevention strategies be targeted within the province? Our study demonstrated that a public-awareness campaign would be highly impactful, owing to a low level of awareness of PAD within both cohorts, and that the ECQ was not an effective screening tool when used on the Nova Scotian population.