Objective To observe the proportion of the peripheral artery disease (PAD) in patients with equal-risk to coronary heart disease and to explore the clinical value of ankle brachial index(ABI). Methods Six hundred and twenty-one cases with equal-risk to coronary heart disease were recruited to the study. Their clinical data and biochemical indicators were collected for further analysis. The value of ABI, which was popularly used in screening PAD, was measured by Oscillometric measurement. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 13.0 software. Results There were 169 cases had PAD,the proportion of it was 27.2%. The proportion of PAD in male and female were 34.6% and 16.1% respectively,which had significant difference(P ＜0.01). Compared with NonPAD group,the average age (65 ± 10 years vs. 60 ± 10 years,P ＜0.01) and total cholesterol level (5.4 ± 1.1 mmol/L vs. (5.1 ± 1.1) mtool/L, P ＜ 0.01) were significantly higher in PAD group. Logistic regression analysis showed that gender,age and total cholesterol were major risk factors of PAD in patients with equal-risk to coronary heart disease. Proportion of PAD was up to 50.0% in patients with combined coronary heart disease,ischemic stroke and diabetes. Conclusions ABI is a feasible and reliable index for screening PAD in patients with equal-risk to coronary heart disease. Gender,age and total cholesterol are major risk factors of low ABI in patients with equal-risk to coronary heart disease.