Abstract
To propose a standardization of calculus of the ankle–arm index as a diagnostic tool
in the clinical setting and epidemiology of peripheral arterial disease, we aimed
to study the reproducibility of its measurement through 15 different modes of calculation.
The study was performed in a group of 194 vascular laboratory outpatients of a tertiary
center. The intra- and interobserver variability was assessed by the intraclass correlation
coefficient of agreement and the Bland & Altman method. Methods where the numerator
was calculated by the average of posterior tibial and dorsalis pedis artery systolic
pressures revealed to be the best reproducible. According to this study and former
researches on this topic, we recommend the use of the average of posterior tibial
and dorsalis pedis artery systolic pressures of the weakest limb for the numerator
and the average of systolic pressures of humeral arteries for the denominator of the
ankle–arm index.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 14,
2002
Received:
September 7,
2002
Identification
Copyright
© 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
