Chronic venous disease in the male. An epidemiological survey.

Aim. Chronic venous disease affects large numbers of men but there are fewer references to them than to women in the literature. The aim of our study was to determine the time lapse between the first symptom(s) and/or clinical signs of venous disease in the male and the first consultation with an angiologist to define the status of the veins within this population, and to demonstrate any possible links between the characteristics of the disorder in accordance with the CEAP international classification. Methods. The design was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. Each physician had to include the first 3 patients examined for the first time. Each male patient had to present at least 1 sign and 1 symptom of chronic venous disease. After randomization, 192 physicians included 561 patients: 494 have been analyzed. Results. The examined patients had a mean age of 49.3±13.7 years, mean height of 1.76±0.07 m, mean weight of 78.2±11.2 kg and a BMI of 25.3±3.3. The disorder had been developing for a mean 76.8±90.3 months prior to the specialist consultation. The longer the time span between the onset of the condition and the first consultation with a specialist, the more advanced was the condition as was also true with the increasing age of the patients. The following associations were observed: the incidence of trophic disorders increased with age (odds-ratio 1.47). The severity of the disease increased the greater the extent of obesity (odds-ratio 3.5). Conclusion. The risk of trophic disorders was higher in shop workers, craftsmen (odds-ratio 3.7) and workers (odds-ratio 2.68) than in executives, in those working in a standing position (odds-ratio 1.5), in those whose father had the condition (odds-ratio 1.9), in the event of a popliteal reflux (odds-ratio 3.2) rather than affecting a saphenous trunk (small saphenous vein odds-ratio 2.5, great saphenous vein odds-ratio 1.9). Thirty-two percent of patients with trophic disorders had already worn elastic compression prior to the specialist consultation. After this consultation, the numbers for whom this was prescribed rose to 87%.