Prevalence of lower-extremity disease in the U.S. adult population ≥40 years of age with and without diabetes: 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

TLDR: LED is common in the U.S. and twice as high among individuals with diagnosed diabetes and among those with and without diagnosed diabetes, and in non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans than non- Hispanic whites.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE —Although lower-extremity disease (LED), which includes lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and peripheral neuropathy (PN), is disabling and costly, no nationally representative estimates of its prevalence exist. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of lower-extremity PAD, PN, and overall LED in the overall U.S. population and among those with and without diagnosed diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —The analysis consisted of data for 2,873 men and women aged ≥40 years, including 419 with diagnosed diabetes, from the 1999–2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The main outcome measures consisted of the prevalence of lower-extremity PAD (defined as ankle-brachial index RESULTS —Of the U.S. population aged ≥40 years, 4.5% (95% CI 3.4–5.6) have lower-extremity PAD, 14.8% (12.8–16.8) have PN, and 18.7% (15.9–21.4) have any LED. Prevalence of PAD, PN, and overall LED increases steeply with age and is higher ( P CONCLUSIONS —LED is common in the U.S. and twice as high among individuals with diagnosed diabetes. These conditions disproportionately affect the elderly, non-Hispanic blacks, and Mexican Americans.