The Impact of Obesity and Patient-Reported Reasons on Patient Noncompliance with Compression Stockings

Introduction: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of obesity on patient compliance with elastic compression stockings and to reveal patient behavior-related and compression stockings-related factors for noncompliance. Patients and Methods: Between July and August 2022, a total of 246 patients with chronic venous insufficiency were included in the study. The patients were divided into two groups, obese and non-obese patients (88 vs. 158 patients), and questioned for proper use of compression stockings and the patient-reported reasons for the non-compliance. Results: The mean age was 49.0 ± 13.1, and the mean BMI was 28.6 ± 5.2. Only 51 patients (20.7%) out of 246 complied with stocking use. The mean number of days per week in which the compression stockings were properly used was 2.9 ± 1.7 in the study population. Patient compliance was higher in the non-obese group (12.5% vs. 25.3%, p= 0.017), and the number of days per week in which the compression stockings were worn properly was higher in the non-obese group (2.6 ± 1.3 vs. 3.1 ± 1.9, p= 0.032). Conclusion: The compliance of our patients with elastic compression stockings was found to be as low as 20.7%. Compliance was lower in the group of obese patients. Obesity and diabetes mellitus were the only factors associated with noncompliance in univariate logistic regression analysis. Further studies are needed in larger patient populations to increase the rate of patient compliance.