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OBJECTIVE: To compare rates of therapy for atherosclerotic risk factors between patients with lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Academic medical center. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred forty-nine consecutive patients diagnosed with PAD or CAD identified from the blood flow and cardiac catheterization laboratories, respectively. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Participants were interviewed by telephone for medical history as well as therapies prescribed and recommended by their physicians. Among patients with hypercholesterolemia, more CAD patients were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs (58% vs 46%, p = .08) and more CAD patients recalled a physician's instruction to follow a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet (94% vs 83%, p = .01). CAD patients were more likely to exercise …