The Prevalence of Peripheral Arterial Disease in Korean Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Attending a University Hospital

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common manifestation of systemic atherosclerosis and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Diabetes is known to increase the risk of PAD two-to four-fold. The prevalence of PAD in Korean diabetic patients has not been established. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of PAD in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes attending a large university hospital and analyzed the factors associated with PAD. Methods: A total of 2,002 patients with type 2 diabetes who underwent ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurement in an outpatient clinic were enrolled. PAD was defined as an ABI <= 0.9. Clinical characteristics of 64 patients with PAD were compared with those of 192 age-and sex-matched control patients without PAD. Results: Of the 2,002 type 2 diabetic patients, 64 (3.2%) were diagnosed as having PAD. PAD was associated with higher prevalences of retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, cerebrovascular and coronary artery disease. Patients with PAD had higher systolic blood pressure and serum triglyceride level and reported higher pack-years of smoking. Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of micro-and macrovascular complications and high systolic blood pressure are factors independently associated with PAD. Conclusion: The prevalence of PAD in diabetic patients was 3.2%, suggesting that the prevalence in Korean diabetic patients is lower than that of patients in Western countries.