The prevalence of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) was assessed in terms of ankle/brachial index by doppler studies in a large cohort of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients in South India. One hundred and ninety-two out of 4941 patients (3.9%) had evidence of PVD. There was a slight female excess in PVD patients. There was a linear increase in prevalence of PVD with increasing duration of diabetes. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that serum cholesterol, serum creatinine, systolic BP, duration of diabetes and ishaemic heart disease are strong predictive factors for PVD. The prevalence of PVD in South Indians is lower than that reported in European populations.