Avgerinos E, Vasdekis S, Kardoulas D, et al. Hellenic Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery. 2022. https://www.heljves.com/2022-issue-4-122-126/

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is very common in the western world with various studies reporting a prevalence of 46-84%, depending on the population studied, the definition of CVI and the mode of diagnosis (ultrasound or clinical). In Greece, a few studies have focused on this chronic health problem and the findings are contradictory in terms of CVI incidence in the two genders, in different age groups and in urban or rural areas. We herein present the protocol and study design of our study targeting to assess the prevalence of CVI in Greece and the quality of life of patients at different stages of the disease (C0s-C6).

A cross-sectional study will be carried out in Greece between December 2022 and February 2023. The study will include ~2,300 adults constituting a random and representative sample of the general population in terms of geographic region of residence and gender based on the most recent census (2021). This sample will be selected from a random sample of pharmacies invited to participate in the study per geographic region; this will be proportional to the number of in dividuals to be included per geographic region to ensure representativeness. Each pharmacy will enroll 10 individuals.

Data collection will be carried out with the help of a questionnaire focusing on CVI symptoms. Colour photographs of lower extremities of different CVI stages will help the respondents to select whether they identify with one of these stages (C0s-C6). Their quality of life will be assessed via the CIVIQ-14 questionnaire.