Background: Peripheral arterial disease is a disease that affects many people worldwide, where smoking is one of the major risk factors for developing peripheral arterial disease. To provide accurate information to patients and to work towards health promotion, it is important to find out how patients experience smoking and their perception in association with peripheral arterial disease.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe the perception and/or experience of smoking in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Methods: A qualitative method with phenomenographic design were used in this study. Semistructured interviews were used to interview a total of six adult smoking patients about their experience of smoking. All patients had peripheral arterial disease.

Results: Four categories were identified about the patients perception of smoking: stimulating, anxiety and guilt, a habit and that it is negative to smoke.

Conclusion: The patients experienced these categories in different ways, which gives us an increased understanding of how these patients experience smoking. The patients felt that there was a connection with peripheral arterial disease and smoking, but at the same time there were some who did not feel that there was any connection. This could be due to lack of information but also lack of motivation to quit smoking among the patients. With the results from this study, healthcare professionals can gain an understanding of how patients who smoke look at their illness and what information they need to increase their motivation to quit smoking.