A low ankle brachial index is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease: the hisayama study

Results: during the follow-up period,134 subjects experienced cardiovascular events. the incidence of cardiovascular disease across the abi values was significantly different (p＜0.001). after adjusting for confounding factors,namely age,sex,systolic blood pressure,use of anti-hypertensive drugs,diabetes,total cholesterol,high-density lipoprotein cholesterol,obesity,smoking,alcohol intake and regular exercise,individuals with a low abi were at 2.40-fold (95% confidence interval [ci] 1.14-5.06) greater risk of cardiovascular disease and 4.13-fold (95% ci 1.62-10.55) greater risk of coronary heart disease.conclusions: our findings suggest that individuals with an abi of ≤ 0.90 have an increased risk of cardiovascular events,independent from traditional risk factors,in the general japanese population.aim: peripheral artery disease (pad),defined as a decreased ankle brachial index (abi),is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease; however,few studies have assessed the relationship between a low abi and cardiovascular risks in asian populations. we herein examined the relationship between the abi and the development of cardiovascular disease in a japanese community.methods: a total of 2,954 community-dwelling japanese individuals without prior cardiovascular disease ≥ 40 years of age were followed up for an average of 7.1 years. the subjects’ abis were categorized into the three groups: low (≤ 0.90),borderline (0.91-0.99) and normal (1.00-1.40). we estimated the relationship between the abi and cardiovascular risk using a cox proportional hazards model. © 2014,japan atherosclerosis society. all rights reserved.