The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in diabetic subjects in south-west Nigeria
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Date
2012
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Journal of Primary Health Care Fam Med.
Abstract
Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is rarely sought for and generally underdiagnosed
even in diabetics in developing countries like Nigeria. PAD is easily detected and
diagnosed by the ankle-brachial index, a simple and reliable test.
Objectives: To determine the prevalence of PAD in diabetic subjects aged 50–89 years and the
value of ankle-brachial index measurement in the detection of PAD.
Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 219 diabetic subjects aged 50–89 years was
carried out. The participants were administered a pre-tested questionnaire and measurement
of ankle-brachial index (ABI) was done. The ankle-brachial index < 0.90 was considered
equivalent to peripheral arterial disease.
Results: The overall prevalence of PAD was 52.5%. The prevalence of symptomatic PAD was
28.7% whilst that of asymptomatic PAD was 71.3%. There were a number of associations
with PAD which included, age (p < 0.05), sex (p < 0.05), and marital status (p < 0.05). The
use of the ankle-brachial index in the detection of PAD was clearly more reliable than the
clinical methods like history of intermittent claudication and absence or presence of pedal
pulses.
Conclusion: The prevalence of PAD is relatively high in diabetic subjects in the southwestern
region of Nigeria. Notable is the fact that a higher proportion was asymptomatic.
Also the use of ABI is of great value in the detection of PAD as evidenced by a clearly more
objective assessment of PAD compared to both intermittent claudication and absent pedal
pulses.
Description
Keywords
prevalence, peripheral arterial disease, diabetic subjects, south-west Nigeria