Differences between women and men with intermittent claudication: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Intermittent claudication (IC) and its consequences have customarily been underestimated in women. Our study aimed to determine the differences on functional and quality-of-life issues between women and men in a large group of claudicants.

METHODS

This study was an observational, cross-sectional, nonrandomized, multicenter study of 1,641 claudicants (406 women). Information was collected from patients' medical history, a physical examination, the ankle-brachial index (ABI), the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ), and the European Quality of Life Questionnaire (EQ-5D).

RESULTS

On average, women with IC were older than men with IC (70.0 vs. 67.8 years; p<0.001) and tended to have a different socio-occupational status. Women were more likely to be obese and less likely to smoke or have dyslipidemia (p<0.001). Women were notable for their greater prevalence of cardiac insufficiency (p=0.016) and arrhythmias (p<0.001) and a lower prevalence of ischemic cardiopathy and acute myocardial infarction (p<0.001). At the same time, there was a significantly higher level of osteoarticular diseases in women: arthrosis (p<0.001), arthritis (p<0.001), and lumbar pathology (p=0.006). All the symptoms evaluated that were associated with IC were more frequent in women (p<0.05). The mean ABI was similar in claudicant women and men. Conversely, the parameter estimates of the WIQ were significantly lower in women (by 4.3%, and 6.5%, respectively; p=0.003). Likewise, the EQ-5D score was 7% lower in women than in men (from 0.52 to 0.59; p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Women claudicants have higher risk factors and more frequent cardiovascular comorbidity than men do. Women have a lower capacity for exercise and a poorer quality of life than male claudicants, despite having a similar ABI. These poorer outcomes in women can be partially explained by the presence of greater osteoarticular comorbidity.