Prevalence of symptomatic leg ischaemia in a Swedish community--an epidemiological study

The prevalence of symptomatic leg ischaemia (SLI) was studied using a standardised postal questionnaire and by measuring ankle systolic blood pressure among those with leg pain. All individuals, aged 50-89 years, of both sexes (n = 2748) in a community of 7524 inhabitants were included. The overall questionnaire response rate was 92%, of whom 441 (17%) reported any form of leg pain. Ankle systolic blood pressure (ASBP) was measured in 353 (80%) of those. Ankle/brachial index (ABI) < or = 0.8 was chosen as the criterion for verified SLI. One hundred and seven (30%) had a verified SLI (ABI < or = 0.8). Hospital records could be reviewed in 83% of the non-responders, and revealed corresponding distributions of risk factors among the non-responders and the questionnaire-responders. Risk factor frequencies among ASBP-examined and not examined individuals were also comparable. The overall prevalence of SLI in the age 50-89 years was 4.1%, ranging from 1.5% in the age decade of 50-59 years, to maximum 7.1% in the decade 70-79 years. A slight but not significant male predominance was recorded, except for the age decade 70-79 years. The prevalence of SLI in the whole community population was approximately 2000/100,000 of which 5% were possible candidates for vascular intervention.