Fatigue, physical activity, and quality of life in people self-reporting symptoms of chronic venous disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to quantify fatigue and quality of life (QoL) in people self-reporting chronic venous disease (CVD) symptoms or at risk of CVD within a large cohort representative of the French population. The relationship between self-reported physical activity and both fatigue and QoL was also investigated. We hypothesized that a greater fatigue and impaired QoL would exist in participants self-reporting CVD symptoms, with the impairments being attenuated in those with greater level of physical activity.

Methods: Using a web-based, custom and adaptive survey, 3008 participants were asked to self-report the presence of common symptoms and risk factors of CVD. Fatigue, QoL, and physical activity were assessed using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue scale, the Chronic Venous Insufficiency Quality of Life Questionnaire, and the Godin-Shepard Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire, respectively.

Results: Thirty-two percent of participants were categorized as having CVD symptoms, whereas 50% were categorized as at risk of CVD. Fatigue was greater in participants with CVD symptoms than non-CVD participants (P < .001), with the score of participants at risk of CVD being intermediate (P ≤ .001). QoL was more impaired in participants with CVD symptoms compared with participants at risk of CVD (P < .001). In participants with CVD symptoms, there were relationships between fatigue and QoL (P < .001) and between physical activity and fatigue (P < .001). Despite the relationship between physical activity and QoL not reaching significance (P = .067), a lower QoL was found in insufficiently active as compared with active (P < .001) and moderately active (P < .001) participants with CVD symptoms.

Conclusions: Participants self-reporting CVD symptoms suffer from greater fatigue and impaired QoL. In this population, a higher level of physical activity is associated with less fatigue and a tendency toward improved QoL.