Did you know September is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Awareness Month? PAD is a disease that affects 7.3 million Americans. PAD most often occurs in the legs and causes plaque to build up in arteries. Over time, plaque can harden and narrow the arteries, limiting the flow of oxygen. Currently, CERTAIN is in the final stages of a comparative effectiveness research (CER) study of PAD that prospectively compares clinical and patient‐reported outcomes (PROs) of medical, surgical, and endovascular interventions for the treatment of claudication – a form of PAD that limits the ability to walk. The overall goal of the study is to better understand best strategies for treatment of patients with PAD, and through the Vascular Interventional Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Program (VI‐SCOAP) network, to translate findings back into quality initiatives for hospitals to improve overall care delivery.
The PAD Study enrolled 328 patients across 15 participating partner sites at 11 Washington State hospitals. The final participant is expected to end follow-up in the fall of 2014. As the study comes to a close, CERTAIN will publish findings from the study. Additionally, CERTAIN will make available the Claudication Assessment Tool, which was developed early in the PAD study as researchers noticed a high degree of relevant data was missing or not reported by providers in the medical records. The tool was developed to help facilitate consistent reporting of important data that guide treatment decisions; improve communication between patients with claudication and their providers; and increase patient’s knowledge of modifiable risk factors.