Ankle-Arm Blood Pressure Test Predicts Heart Di...( Studies about the use of the ABI are ...),Health

Studies about the use of the ABI are continuing, Fowkes said. "The next step is to look at the prediction made by combining the ABI and other risk factors," he said. "Any individual who is having a cardiovascular risk assessment would benefit from having this test, but when we have done further work in looking at the detailed accuracy of the prediction, proper use of the test will become more obvious."

ABI testing right now isn't for everyone, said Dr. Aaron B. Folsom, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, and a member of the research team.

It is being promoted as a way of measuring the risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), blockage of blood vessels in the legs, and so it is best used for older people, who are at greater risk of PAD, Folsom said. Wider use can be proposed, because "the more information you have, the better you do in classifying cardiovascular risk," Folsom said.

A low ABI reading would mean greater emphasis for that individual on the classic risk factors -- blood cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and the others, Folsom added. "We do have interventions that we know work, such as glucose-lowering and physical activity," he said.

More information

Learn how the ABI is determined and what it means from the Vascular Disease Foundation.

SOURCES: Gerry Fowkes, Ph.D., professor, epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland; Aaron B. Folsom, M.D., professor, epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; July 9, 2008, Journal of the American Medical Association