•sheehan, Sheehan, clouse, Le, Tracci

Title: Gender Differences in PAD patients

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Peripheral artery disease (PAD) patients suffer substantial morbidity with their disease and have a highly elevated risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The current study entails a systematic review and analysis of the differences in risk outcomes in female vs. male patients undergoing treatment for PAD. Disease outcomes are often studied in clinical trials which may not represent female patients equally. We hypothesize female and male patients with PAD are equally at risk for significant disease endpoints. Methods and Results: The systematic review was conducted with guidance from the librarians at the UVA Health Sciences Library. Disease endpoints analyzed were amputation, all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), and major adverse limb events (MALE). Seven studies were analyzed for female vs. male on amputation and all-cause mortality. The overall odds ratio (OR) for amputation was 1.04 (95% CI [0.78, 1.38]), and the OR for all-cause mortality was 1.11 (95% CI [0.87, 1.42]). Six studies were analyzed for MI; the OR was 0.94 (95% CI [0.81, 1.08]). Five studies were analyzed for MACE; the OR was 1.11 (95% CI [0.85, 1.44]). Three studies were analyzed for MALE; the OR was 1.07 (95% CI [0.77, 1.49]). Female and male patients are equally at risk for these significant PAD endpoints. Conclusions: Our study serves to update and expand upon mortality and adverse outcome predictors for PAD patients. This study emphasizes the importance of female representation in clinical trials relating to PAD given the similar adverse outcomes for female and male patients with PAD.

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