Artikel
Clinically meaningful symptom improvements associated with a cooling intervention for chronic venous disease
Suche in Medline nach
Autoren
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Teresa Kelechi
- Medical University of South Carolina, College of Nursing
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Martina Mueller
- Medical University of South Carolina
| Veröffentlicht: | 30. April 2018 |
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Gliederung
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Background and Purpose: Chronic venous disease (CVeD) is a disorder of the lower extremity venous system characterized by burdensome symptoms. Few targeted interventions exist. In this study a cooling intervention was compared to placebo on symptom improvements.
Methods: Randomized single blinded 6-month clinical trial of 276 persons allocated to 3 times weekly cooling or placebo cuff applied to the most severely affected leg during 30 minutes of leg elevation. Eleven symptoms were measured at baseline and end-of-study with the VEINES QOL/Sym questionnaire to determine clinically relevant symptom changes. Data were analyzed for 30% moderate or 50% substantial improvements and symptom severity based on cut-points calculated from ±1 standard error of measurement.
Results: Moderate improvements were noted for the cooling group compared to placebo for cramps (40%; 28%),– both groups had substantial improvements in pain (53%; 59%). Females had greater improvements than males in burning (33%; 21%) and irritability (33%; 26%) – both had substantial improvement in pain (59%; 53%). Individuals < 65 compared to >/= 65 years of age had improvements in cramps (39%; 27%) and irritability (36%; 21%) – both groups had substantial improvements in pain (56%; 57%). For cut-points, females experienced a statistically significant improvement for itch (24.1% vs. 17.1%, p=0.028). Participants < 65 were significantly less irritable (36.4% vs 21.2%, p=0.021).
Conclusions: Clinicians should consider recommending a cooling with leg elevation protocol to improve symptoms especially pain. Sex and age are important considerations as differences were noted in symptoms such as burning, cramps and irritability.
Disclosure of Interest: This work was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) Award #R01NR012237 and supported by the South Carolina Clinical & Translation Research (SCTR) Institute through NIH Grant Number UL1 TR001450. The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily reflective of the NINR.
