Age and Gender Difference in the Association of Metabolic Syndrome and Peripheral Artery Disease Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Purpose: Our study is aimed at exploring the association between peripheral artery disease (PAD) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) across different age and gender groups among patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Patients and Methods: A total of 3638 patients with T2DM were enrolled in the study, including 281 patients with PAD and 3357 patients without PAD. Demographic data and anthropometric measurements, such as height, weight, and waist circumference, were collected. Laboratory tests and ankle–brachial index (ABI) assessment were also conducted. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between PAD and the number of MetS components across different age and gender groups. Results: After adjusting for potential confounding factors, our results indicated that the ORs for the presence of PAD increased progressively with the number of MetS components. Stratified analysis showed that this effect was particularly pronounced in younger patients (aged < 40 years) and older patients (aged ≥ 60 years), where the risk of PAD rose with an increasing number of MetS components. Furthermore, the positive association between the number of MetS components and PAD presence was significantly stronger in females. Conclusions: In summary, our findings suggest that the risk of PAD is positively correlated with the number of MetS components in patients with T2DM, especially among younger patients and older patients. Additionally, the positive association between the number of MetS components and the presence of PAD was significantly more evident in female patients.