[Varicose veins and chronic venous insufficiency--minor disorder or disease? A critical review of the literature]

Abstract

The controversial question of the incidence and significance of varicoses and chronic venous insufficiency is analysed by a critical review of epidemiological studies. It is seen that many of the results which initially appear to diverge are attributable to different, in part unsatisfactory epidemiological methods; e.g. patient groups of different ages and sex, different interview and examination techniques in addition to, above all, different weighting of varicosis. Thus, studies in general practice showed that the prevalence for varicoses in women was four times that in men; CVI was, in fact, 15 times more frequent than in epidemiological studies. The different weighting of varicoses and chronic venous insufficiency may well be one of the major reasons for the absent "unité de doctrine".