Background—Lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with
decreased functional status, diminished quality of life, amputation, myocardial infarction,
stroke, and death. Nevertheless, public knowledge of PAD as a morbid and mortal disease
has not been previously assessed. Methods and Results—We performed a cross-sectional,
population-based telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 2501 adults≥
50 years of age, with oversampling of blacks and Hispanics. The survey instrument …

The study by Hirsch et al is a cross-sectional, population-based telephone survey of 2501
adults greater than 50 years of age, with oversampling of blacks and Hispanics, to measure
the public awareness of lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD), its relationship to
other kinds of vascular disease, and the risk factors associated with its cause. The authors
concluded that the general public is poorly informed about PAD, with only 25% of
respondents expressing familiarity with the entity, about one fourth aware of its association …