Association between systemic sclerosis and peripheral arterial disease: a nationwide observation retrospective claim records cohort study in Taiwan

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<jats:title>Objectives</jats:title>
<jats:p>Recent studies have proposed associations between systemic sclerosis (SSc) and atherosclerosis and between SSc and cardiovascular disease. However, in Asia, no large-scale studies have focused on the association between peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and SSc.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Setting</jats:title>
<jats:p>A nationwide observation retrospective cohort study.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Participants</jats:title>
<jats:p>The National Health Insurance Research Database was used for selecting patients diagnosed with SSc from 2000 to 2011. Patients diagnosed with PAD before the index date were excluded.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Primary and secondary outcome measures</jats:title>
<jats:p>The SSc cohort comprised 1106 patients with SSc, and the non-SSc cohort comprised 4424 matched controls. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for analysing the adjusted risk of PAD between the case and control patients.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Results</jats:title>
<jats:p>The SSc cohort exhibited a significantly higher risk (HR=2.15, 95% CI=1.47 to 3.14) of PAD than did the non-SSc cohort. Patients with heart failure exhibited the highest risk of PAD (adjusted HR=2.10, 95% CI=1.20 to 3.70). Moreover, even without any comorbidities, the SSc cohort exhibited a significantly higher risk (adjusted HR=4.17 fold, 95% CI=1.98 to 8.77) of PAD than did the non-SSc cohort.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title>
<jats:p>SSc is associated with a significantly high risk of PAD. Further studies are required to reduce the PAD risk among patients with SSc.</jats:p>
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