Prevalence and Awareness of Varicose Veins (VV) among Teachers and the General Population of Taif City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of Varicose Veins (VV) varies among individuals in different occupations with high prevalence reported among teachers due to long standing periods. Besides standing for long periods, several risk factors of VV were mentioned in the literature but with discordance between the studies about the significance of some of these factors. The research on the general population and teachers’ awareness of VV, is limited in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and awareness of VV among teachers and the general population of Taif city and find out the correlation and differences between teachers and other Taif residents with VV along with socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted in Taif, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, employment status, medical history, awareness, and knowledge about VV. SPSS was used to analyze the results. Chi-square test and unpaired t-test at a 0.05 level of significance were used to assess the association of different factors and the participant’s diagnosis with VV. Results: A total of 1,754 individuals (993 females) participated in the study. The most frequent age groups were 25-29 years (22.6%) and 40-44 years (20.5%). Most participants (85.6%) had a university degree or higher. More than half of the participants (58.4%) were in the education field. The prevalence of VV among all participants was 10% and 13.1% among the teachers. The Chi-square test indicated that the significant risk factors of VV among the participants were being a female (p<0.001), older age (p<0.001), lower educational level (p<0.001), smoking (p<0.001), lower exercise level (p<0.001), long duration of standing at work (p=0.002), being a teacher (p<0.001), having received prior hormonal treatment (p=0.002), family history with VV (p<0.001), longer duration of household chores (p<0.001), and being at menopause (p<0.001). Unpaired t-test results indicated that those with higher BMI, number of pregnancies, and number of children had a significantly higher prevalence of VV. Conclusion: The prevalence of VV in the current study is comparable to previous studies. Many significant modifiable VV risk factors were identified. The participants’ awareness and knowledge about VV causes, symptoms, and prophylactic measures were not adequate in some aspects. Increasing the general population’s awareness about VV using simple methods is warranted in an attempt to reduce the prevalence of VV and its complications. Keywords: Varicose veins, teachers, Saudi Arabia