Chronic venous insufficiency in persons with a history of injection drug use.
Persons with a history of injection drug use have many risk factors for the development of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), yet this phenomenon has not been studied systematically in this population. Persons (N = 204) with a history of injection drug use who were in enrolled in a treatment center were examined for clinical manifestations of CVI. The CVI clinical classification was graded on a 7-point scale for each leg. Most participants (n = 179, 87.7%) exhibited clinical evidence of CVI. Significant predictors of CVI clinical manifestations were leg infections/cellulitis (rho =.53); years injection in the veins of the groin, legs, and feet (rho =.47); deep vein thrombosis (rho =.37); and total years injection heroin (rho =.27). There was a linear functional relationship between years of injection drug use and the CVI clinical classification, but only when the injections were in the veins of the groin, legs, or feet; otherwise, the specific mechanisms of this relationship were not evident. The findings indicate that CVI is a common occurrence in persons who have injected drugs.
Pieper
B
B
College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA.
Templin
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014689:Venous Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology / Q000451:nursing* / Q000473:pathology*