[The reliability of the ankle/arm index for the study of chronic arteriopathy of the lower limbs in primary care].

OBJECTIVE

To validate the "ankle/arm" index (AAI) or "Yao index" for the primary care assessment of chronic arteriopathy in the lower limbs (CALL).

DESIGN

A descriptive crossover study.

SETTING

Primary care.

PATIENTS

21 with suspected or diagnosed CALL.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Four primary-care doctors made 164 examinations by means of palpation and determination of blood pressure with Doppler waves. The presence or absence of pulses was recorded and the AAI calculated. The interobserver Kappa ranged from 0.20 to 0.47 and the intraobserver from 0.52 to 0.76, according to the pulse examined. The intraclass interobserver correlation coefficient for the AAI was 0.80 and the intraobserver 0.79. Interobserver SD for the AAI was 0.14, and intraobserver SD 0.15.

CONCLUSIONS

The ankle-arm index obtained by primary-care doctors using Doppler is a reliable method of studying CALL. However, due to its wide variability, it is advisable always to evaluate its evolution together with clinical data.