Quality of life in chronic venous patients who do or do not wear compressive stockings

Abstract

BACKGROUND:  Wearing elastic compression stockings is of considerable significance for patients with chronic venous disease (CVD), since their physiological effect is to improve venous hemodynamic parameters, making them a good treatment option that can impact on patients' quality of life.

OBJECTIVE:  To assess quality of life in patients with chronic venous disease who do or do not wear elastic stockings.

METHODS:  This was a cross-sectional observational study assessing a sample of 50 CVD patients of both sexes, divided into two groups, one who wear elastic stockings and another who do not. Primary variables were the domains of the SF-36 (Medical Outcomes Study Short-form 36) and AVVQ (Aberdeen Varicose Veins Questionnaire) and secondary variables were: age; sex; physical activity; educational level; profession; wearing elastic stockings (frequency, pressure and type); elevation of lower limbs; itching and CEAP classification. The SF-36 and AVVQ quality of life questionnaires were administered to patients. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.

RESULTS:  Wearing elastic stockings proved beneficial for the quality of life of people with chronic venous disease. For the AVVQ disease-specific questionnaire the greatest improvements were in overall score (p=0.0028) and the extent of varicosity domain (p=0.000). The SF-36 domains role emotional (p=0.017) and functional capacity (p=0.000) both improved.

CONCLUSIONS:  Wearing elastic stockings is an effective treatment for CVD that improves disease-specific quality of life and also leads to improvements in general quality of life.

quality of life; compression stockings; venous insufficiency