HealthDay News — Patients with lower socioeconomic status have a higher prevalence of developing peripheral artery disease (PAD), according to a study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Reena L. Pande, MD, and Mark A. Creager, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, examined 6,791 patients to identify the correlation between socioeconomic inequality and the prevalence of PAD. Poverty-income ratio, a ratio of self-reported income relative to the poverty line, and attained education level were included as measures of socioeconomic status.
Overall weighted prevalence of PAD was 5.8%. Individuals with low income and lower education had significantly higher PAD prevalence, reported the investigators. The odds of PAD were more than two-fold higher for patients in the lowest of six poverty-income ratio categories compared with those in the highest poverty-income ratio category (odds ratio, 2.69; P<0.0001).
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Even after multivariable adjustment, the association remained significant (OR, 1.64; P=0.034). The prevalence of PAD also correlated with lower attained education level (OR, 2.8; P<0.0001), but the correlation did not persist after multivariable adjustment.
“These data suggest that individuals of lower socioeconomic status remain at high risk and highlight the need for education and advocacy efforts focused on these at-risk populations,” concluded the researchers.
