Prevalence of peripheral arterial disease and its association with claudication in individuals with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: a prospective cross-sectional study in Brazil.

Background: Few studies have described the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the diabetic population of Brazil.

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of PAD and its association with the presence of claudication and to compare risk factors for atherosclerosis between subjects with and without PAD.

Methods: An analytical, observational, prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted with 150 volunteers with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) treated at a university endocrinology outpatient clinic (Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil) and assessed using the ankle-brachial index (ABI) and the Edinburgh Claudication Questionnaire.

Results: ABI was evaluated in 143 volunteers (7 did not meet the inclusion criteria). Six individuals had an ABI > 1.4. Excluding these cases and adopting an ABI ≤ 0.9 to identify PAD, the prevalence of PAD was 14.6% (20 of 137), 15.8% in men (6 of 38), and 14.1% in women (14 of 99). We identified twenty-five participants with borderline ABI (18.2%). Claudication was present in 25% of subjects with PAD; however, only 15% had typical claudication. A significant association with the presence of typical claudication was observed only when ABI values were stratified above or below 1.0 (p = 0.04, Fisher's exact test). Participants with PAD were older (median difference: 5.5 years, 95% CI 3.0 to 9.0, p < 0.001) and tended to have a longer duration of DM and higher BMI.

Conclusions: The prevalence of PAD in T2DM volunteers with no prior screening was 14.6% and 75% were asymptomatic.