Venous leg ulcer in the context of chronic venous disease

• Published in: Phlebology Vol. 29; no. 4; p. 220
• Main Authors: Lozano Sánchez, F S, Marinel lo Roura, J, Carrasco Carrasco, E, González-Porras, J R, Escudero Rodríguez, J R, Sánchez Nevarez, I, Díaz Sánchez, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-05-2014
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Chronic Disease; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Quality of Life; Social Class; Surveys and Questionnaires; Varicose Ulcer - complications; Varicose Ulcer - diagnosis; Vascular Diseases - complications; Vascular Diseases - diagnosis; Venous Insufficiency - diagnosis; Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12); CEAP classification; CIVIQ Questionnaire; chronic venous disease; venous ulcer; quality of life; Venous Clinical Severity Score
• ISSN: 1758-1125
• DOI: 10.1177/0268355513480489

Chronic venous disease (CVD) is a frequent disorder with a high socioeconomic impact. Little is known about the possible differences between healed ulcer (C5 group) and active ulcer (C6 group) in terms of disease severity and quality of life (QoL). Our aim was to determine the possible differences in severity disease and QoL between the C5-C6 and C1 (control) group.
Data from a national, multicentre, observational and cross-sectional study (n = 1598) were used to compare three groups of CVD: C1 (n = 243), C5 (n = 136) and C6 (n = 70). CVD severity was assessed with the Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS) and QoL with the Short Form 12 Health Survey (SF-12) and Chronic Lower Limb Venous Insufficiency Questionnaire (CIVIQ-20).
Patients with active ulcers had a higher mean total VCSS than patients with healed ulcers (P < 0.05). Both SF-12 and CIVIQ-20 QoL questionnaires indicated a poorer QoL in patients with ulcers than in those with C1 (P < 0.05). Compared with the C5 group, patients with active ulcers (C6) had lower QoL scores, but the differences were not statistically significant.
Patients with venous leg ulcers (C5-C6) are associated with high severity and poor QoL. However, the healing of a leg ulcer did not contribute to improvement of QoL.