Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects 8 to 12 million individuals in the United States and is also prevalent in Europe and Asia. A regional pilot study of community screening for PAD demonstrated that patient awareness of a PAD diagnosis was low, and was associated with atherosclerosis risk factors, antiplatelet therapy, and claudication treatment intensity. PAD has not emerged as a focus of public health efforts to improve quality of life, nor to decrease the associated cardiovascular ischemic risk. Smoking, diabetes, and age are the strongest risk factors for PAD. Smokers have a 2 to 6-fold increased likelihood of having PAD, and the risk of PAD increases in a dose-dependent manner with the duration and amount of smoking. Diabetes confers a 2 to 4-fold increased risk of having PAD. The prevalence of PAD increases as a function of age. Criqui et al showed that the prevalence of PAD in individuals under 60 years of age was about 2.5%, whereas the prevalence increased to over 20% in individuals over 75 years of age.