Major risk factors for chronic venous disease development in women: is childbirth among them?

Many studies have reported that Chronic venous disease (CVD) occurs more in females than males, due to pregnancy. The study was conducted over the period 2014-2015 at the Dermatovenereological clinic, Novi Sad, Serbia. We performed a cross-sectional study of 554 women. According to Clinical-Etiology-Anatomy-Pathophysiology (CEAP) staging, the sample was divided into three groups: Mild CVD (classes 1-3 by CEAP) - n = 72; Severe CVD (classes 4-6 by CEAP) - n = 122 and a Control (no CVD) - n = 360 patients. The age range of participants was 18 to 93 years (average 54.92 years). Most important CVD risk factors were examined in detail. Out of 554 examinees, 22.03% had severe CVD, and 12.99% had mild CVD. Bivariate analyses showed a significantly higher proportion of women who had deliveries in the severe CVD and mild CVD groups, compared with the control group. Other significantly related factors were older age, family history of varicose veins, standing job position and hypertension. After performing multiple logistic regression analysis, older age, standing job position and family history of varicose veins remained significant, while childbirth lost its significance. Our results suggest that childbirths are not associated with the occurrence of CVD.