Demographic and clinical profile of individuals diagnosed with chronic venous disease referred to a vascular specialist.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the demographic and clinical profile of people diagnosed with chronic venous disease (CVD) referred from primary care to a vascular specialist at hospitals in Catalonia.

DESIGN

This study used a retrospective cohort design.

METHODS

Retrospective cohort study with a sample of 265,883 people for whom sociodemographic data were available, of a total of 333,455 individuals referred from primary care to a hospital vascular specialist between 2015 and 2021. We examined sex, age, health region of origin, number of referrals per year according to stage of the disease, and comorbidities associated with the diagnosis.

RESULTS

69.4% of the cohort were women and 30.6% men, and the mean age of the referred individuals was 61 years. For diagnoses under the heading "phlebitis and thrombophlebitis", the number of referrals increased from 3639 in 2015 to 5200 in 2021. The proportion of venous ulcers remained fairly constant, ranging from 3.7% in 2019 to 5% in 2020. Asymptomatic varicose veins (without visible or palpable signs of venous disease) constituted 34.6% of referrals Primary hypertension and obesity were the most frequent comorbidities in all stages of chronic venous disease.

CONCLUSION

Most people with chronic venous disease referred to hospitals were female, and the proportion of phlebitis and thrombophlebitis referrals increased over the study period. A significant percentage of individuals diagnosed with asymptomatic varices were unnecessarily referred to hospitals. This phenomenon may suggest that primary care professionals need more information and training about the recommended referral criteria.