Eur J Vasc Surg 6, 647-650(1992)
Epidemiology of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: the Effect of Differing Definitions David Moher 1, C. William Cole 2 and Gerry B. HilP '2 1Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Loeb Medical Research Institute and the 2Division of Vascular Surgery, University of Ottawa, Canada There have been several published definitions for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), however, it is not known how different definitions affect what is reported. This paper presents an evaluation of three definitions taken from the literature on (a) aneurysm frequency, (b) prevalence rate and (c) prevalence ratio from an ongoing case-control study evaluating whether male siblings of patients with known AAA have a higher prevalence of aneurysms compared to a control group. Depending on the definition used, the frequency of AAA could vary from a low of five to a high of 23; the prevalence of AAA in siblings could rangefrom 2.1 to 18.8. Changing de~'nitions alters the prevalence ratio (risk of disease) in both magnitude and direction. On the one hand, male siblings of affected patients are at approximately one and a half times (1.6) greater risk of having an AAA compared to controls, whereas using a different definition they are at less than half the risk (0.3). Key Words: Definitions; Abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Introduction In the United States, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the tenth leading cause of death in men 55 years of age and older (and the tenth leading cause of death in men 65 years and older in Canada). 1'2 The mortality rate from AAA has remained constant over the last 20 years while that due to cardiac disease and stroke have shown a steady decline. 1 It is likely that the number of patients presenting with AAA will increase in the future. Demographic changes have doubled the number of people at risk of developing AAA in many western countries. It has also been suggested that this increase in incidence may be primarily in small (
Epidemiology of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: the Effect of Differing Definitions David Moher 1, C. William Cole 2 and Gerry B. HilP '2 1Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Loeb Medical Research Institute and the 2Division of Vascular Surgery, University of Ottawa, Canada There have been several published definitions for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), however, it is not known how different definitions affect what is reported. This paper presents an evaluation of three definitions taken from the literature on (a) aneurysm frequency, (b) prevalence rate and (c) prevalence ratio from an ongoing case-control study evaluating whether male siblings of patients with known AAA have a higher prevalence of aneurysms compared to a control group. Depending on the definition used, the frequency of AAA could vary from a low of five to a high of 23; the prevalence of AAA in siblings could rangefrom 2.1 to 18.8. Changing de~'nitions alters the prevalence ratio (risk of disease) in both magnitude and direction. On the one hand, male siblings of affected patients are at approximately one and a half times (1.6) greater risk of having an AAA compared to controls, whereas using a different definition they are at less than half the risk (0.3). Key Words: Definitions; Abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Introduction In the United States, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the tenth leading cause of death in men 55 years of age and older (and the tenth leading cause of death in men 65 years and older in Canada). 1'2 The mortality rate from AAA has remained constant over the last 20 years while that due to cardiac disease and stroke have shown a steady decline. 1 It is likely that the number of patients presenting with AAA will increase in the future. Demographic changes have doubled the number of people at risk of developing AAA in many western countries. It has also been suggested that this increase in incidence may be primarily in small (
![[The abdominal aortic aneurysm].](/assets/img/hold.png)
