Chronic venous insufficiency and graduated compression stockings: analysis of public health system patients’ adherence to treatment

BACKGROUND: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a pathology of great importance due to its high worldwide prevalence, affecting up to 80% of the population. Its incidence increases with age and is more frequent in females. One of the most important treatment options is compression therapy and the main method employed is wearing graduated compression stockings, which is considered the basic treatment for CVI regardless of the patient’s clinical classification. In clinical practice, treatment outcomes are impaired by patients not wearing the stockings properly. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the rate of adherence to wearing graduated compression stockings and to understand the problem of treatment non-adherence. METHODS: Cross-sectional observational study conducted from June 2017 to January 2019, based on administration of questionnaires to patients at a SUS vascular surgery clinic at a teaching hospital, in Curitiba, PR, Brazil. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics v.20.0 computer program. RESULTS: 240 patients were analyzed. Mean age was 57.5 ± 12.9 (22 - 86) and 84.2% of the sample were female. 106 of the 240 patients analyzed (44.2%) were non-adherent with wearing compression stockings. Reasons for not wearing the stockings were: financial; pain; ignorance of the need to wear them; heat; and others. CONCLUSIONS: The adherence rate observed in the present study was 55.8% and the most prevalent reason for not wearing stockings was financial.