Risk of peripheral artery disease according to race and sex: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Previous community-based studies have demonstrated sex and race-based disparities in the risk of cardiovascular disease. We sought to examine the association of sex and race with incident peripheral artery disease (PAD-) and critical limb ischemia (CLI-) related hospitalizations.

METHODS: In 13,451 Black and White ARIC participants without prevalent PAD at baseline (1987-89), we estimated the cumulative incidence of PAD- and CLI-related hospitalization over a median follow-up of 26 years. We quantified hazard ratios (HRs) using Cox models across four sex- and race-groups. PAD and CLI were defined by hospitalization discharge codes.

RESULTS: The cumulative incidence of PAD-related hospitalization was higher in males than females in Whites (5.1% vs. 2.7%; p

CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that there are both sex- and race-specific patterns of PAD-related hospitalization that lead to differences in clinical disease risk and presentation.