IJCS | Volume 31, Nº4, July / August 2018

408 Alvim et al. Prevalence of peripheral artery disease Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2018;31(4)405-413 Original Article Table 1 - Demographic, anthropometric, biochemical, and hemodynamic characteristics of individuals with and without peripheral artery disease Variables Total PAD present PAD absent P value n 1,627 17 1,610 *** Age (years) 44.9 ± 16.4 66 ± 15 45 ± 16 < 0.001 Gender Men (%) 41.5 41.2 41.5 0.59 Women (%) 58.5 58.8 58.5 Ethnicity White (%) 76.7 70.6 76.8 0.001 Black (%) 5.5 29.4 5.2 Mulatto (%) 17.5 0 17.7 Others (%) 0.3 0 0.4 ABI (ratio) 1.11 ± 0.1 0.78 ± 0.11 1.12 ± 0.7 < 0.001 BMI (kg/m 2 ) 25.8 ± 5.1 28.7 ± 5.3 25.7 ± 5.1 0.02 WC (cm) 91 ±12 100 ± 10 91 ± 12 0.003 TC (mg/dL) 197.8 ± 40.7 195.6 ± 59.9 197.9 ± 40.5 0.83 LDL-c (mg/dL) 124.5 ± 35.4 122.2 ± 56.3 124.6 ± 35.2 0.79 HDL-c (mg/dL) 47.2 ± 11.7 45.2 ± 13.1 47.2 ± 11.8 0.49 Triglycerides (mg/dL) 130.3 ± 68.1 141.1 ± 60.0 130.2 ± 68.2 0.52 Fasting glucose (mg/dL) 92.6 ± 19.0 114.6 ± 43.2 92.3 ± 18.5 0.06 HbA1c (%) 5.7 ± 0.7 6.5 ± 1.2 5.7 ± 0.8 0.02 SBP (mmHg) 125.4 ± 16.3 133.5 ± 19.2 125.4 ± 16.2 0.04 DBP (mmHg) 76.2 ± 10.3 75.3 ± 9.2 76.2 ± 10.4 0.72 Categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test, and continuous variables were compared using Student t test. PAD: peripheral artery disease; n: sample size; ABI: ankle-brachial index; BMI: body mass index; WC: waist circumference; TC: total cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein; HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure. the rural city of Baependi, located in Southeastern Brazil. In the study sample, which included 1,627 volunteers, the overall prevalence of PAD was 1.05%. The prevalence clearly increasedwith age, peaking at 5.2% above the age of 70 years. Individuals with PAD were older, heavier, more often smokers, and less physically active. Identified risk factors for PAD in the study sample were age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.08), smoking (OR = 4.01), sedentary lifestyle (OR = 3.75), and diabetes mellitus (OR = 3.07). The occurrence of PAD in the general population has been assessed in different countries. 15-17,19,20,22,23,32 In Brazil, Makdisse et al. 18 reported in 2008 a high prevalence of PAD (10.5%) in a population with a mean age of 43.8 ± 14.7 years. The study involved volunteers in large cities (over 100 thousand inhabitants) from different Brazilian regions. Another study specifically assessed the Japanese- Brazilian population and determined a prevalence of PADof 21.1%; 26 however, themean age of the participants in this study was higher (about 56.5 years). The present study assessed volunteers from a city with an estimated population of 18,072 inhabitants at the time of the study. The prevalence found (around 1%) is considerably low. Most studies assessing the prevalence of PAD have included samples of individuals older than 40 years (sometimes above the ages of 55 or 65 years). If we consider only the prevalence of PAD in individuals