Differences in health-related quality of life in patients with mild and severe chronic venous insufficiency: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) has a broad spectrum of clinical expression, ranging from mild to severe cases, which negatively impacts the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, the comparison in HRQoL between mild and severe CVI has not yet been systematically discussed, which could assist in the adoption of preventive strategies METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted (protocol register https://osf.io/mr4aj/) following a search of the MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, LILACS, and Scopus databases, using the terms related to CVI and HRQoL. Observational studies that assessed the HRQoL in individuals with CVI in different degrees of severity were included, without date restriction RESULTS: We retrieved 4750 titles and abstracts and 9 were included in this review. The HRQoL was worse in patients with severe CVI compared to mild patients at Short-form of Health Survey (SF-36) (mean difference 11.02, 95% CI from 8.62 to 13.43; p<0.001), Chronic Venous Insufficiency Quality Of Life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-14) (mean difference 13.07; 95% CI from 11.33 to 14.82; p<0.001) and Aberdeen Varicose Veins Questionnaire (mean difference 7.7; 95% CI: -12.82 to -2.58; p=0.003), especially in the physical domains. There was no difference in the HRQoL between severe and mild patients at CIVIQ-20 (p=0.09) CONCLUSION: The HRQoL was worse in the physical domains in patients with severe CVI when compared to mild patients. However, the heterogeneity of the results was high and the data should be interpreted with caution.