Is obesity an aggravating factor in chronic venous disease? Results of a French epidemiological study in male patients.

AIM: In a recent epidemiological study on chronic venous disease (CVD) in French male patients, a correlation was found between obesity and disease severity. The objective of this study was to further analyze the relationship between age and/or obesity, and CVD severity as assessed by the CEAP C-class.

METHODS: Each physician taking part in this cross-sectional study included the first 3 adult male patients consulting for the first time and presenting at least one sign and one symptom of CVD. Patients' socio-demographic and clinical data were collected, and findings for obese (body mass index BMI: >30 kg/m(2)), overweight (25
RESULTS: A total of 192 physicians included 494 male adult patients (49.3+/-13.7 years). Among these 494 patients, 37 (7.5%) were obese, 196 (39.7%) overweight, and 256 (51.8%) non-obese. While univariate analyses pointed to more severe CVD in obese patients, multivariate analyses failed to disclose any BMI effect on CVD severity (polytomic logistic regression: P=0.1826). The differences observed between obese, overweight, and non-obese patients were age-linked (P<0.0001): obese patients were older (55.3+/-14 years) than the other patients, and CVD was more severe with age (16.9%, 26.7%, 26.6%, and 39.6% of patients aged 18-40, 41-50, 51-60, and >60 years experienced trophic disorders, i.e., CEAP classes C4, C5, and C6).

CONCLUSIONS: This study does not show any relationship between the CEAP C-class and obesity in male patients. Obesity was thus probably not an aggravating factor in CVD but a simple reflection of ageing.