Varicose veins epidemiology and demographics

Varicose veins are a common disease. Its reported prevalence all over the world varies between 10% to 30%^[1][2]. The majority of the cases are reported in developed and industrialised countries. The prevalence of varicose veins in the USA is estimated to be 23% of the adult population. It is more common in women than in men. The prevalence increases with age. Heredity seems to play a major role in development of Varicose veins. 50% of the patients have a family history of the disease. The children with two affected parents are at almost 90% risk^[3].

Prevalence: Worldwide the prevalence varies between 10-30% of the population. In the USA, the prevalence is around 4500/100,000 ^[4]. It affects around 22 million women and 11 million men^[5].

Region: Varicose Veins are more common in western and industrialized countries compared to the developing countries^[6]. The paper noted that the prevalence rates between Egypt and England was upwards of five-fold after standardization for age.

Case fatality: Varicose veins is not a fatal disease.

Age: The prevalence increases with age. The most affected age group is 40-80 years old.

Gender: Females are twice as likely to be affected by varicose veins as compared to males. Although, males are nearly twice as likely to have visible disease^[6].

Race: The San Diego Population Study, a first of its kind multi-ethnic study of Chronic venous disease noted that the prevalence of visible varicose veins was significantly higher in Hispanics; while it was lowest in Asians^[6].

Developed countries: The prevalence in developed countries tends to be more in developed countries when compared to developing countries.

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