PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE IN A MULTIETHNIC NATIONAL SAMPLE: THE ROLE OF CONVENTIONAL RISK FACTORS AND ALLOSTATIC LOAD

Background: Limited data exist on the prev-alence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) among ethnically diverse populations. Our objectives were to assess the prevalence of PAD in a multiethnic national sample and examine risk factor control and allostatic load (a marker of dysregulation of the inflammatory, metabolic, and cardiovascular systems) by race/ethnicity among individuals with PAD. Methods: We analyzed data from the 1999– 2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for individuals aged$40 with a measured ankle brachial index (N55,083). PAD was de-fined as an ankle brachial index,0.9. We performed bivariate and multivariate analyses to describe the association of race/ethnicity with PAD, controlling for sociodemographic factors, clinical risk factors and allostatic load