title: Standing Posture at Work Does Not Increase the Risk of Varicose Veins among Health Care Providers in Taiwan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study compared the risk of varicose veins (VV) among physicians, nonphysician health care providers (HCP), and the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used to identify 28,844 physicians and 26,099 nonphysician HCP and an identical number of age- and sex-matched patients from the general population. Using logistic regression analyses, VV risks between physicians and the general population, nonphysician HCP and the general population, and physicians and nonphysician HCP, and among physician specialists were compared by tracing their medical histories between 2007 and 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Physicians and nonphysician HCP had cumulative VV incidences of 0.12% (34/28,844) and 0.13% (33/26,099), respectively, during the 5-year period, compared to that of the general population within the same 5-year period. Physicians and nonphysician HCP did not have a higher VV risk than the general population after adjusting for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) history (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.53-1.40, and AOR 1.43; 95% CI 0.82-2.50, respectively). Physicians did not a have higher VV risk than nonphysician HCP (AOR 0.80; 95% CI 0.43-1.51) after adjusting for age, sex, and DVT history. Surgery had the highest incidence (0.22%) while pediatrics and emergency medicine had the lowest incidence (0%) of VV risk among physician specialists; however, the difference was not significant (all p values >0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, VV risk did not differ among physicians, nonphysician HCP, and the general population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Administration and Medical Informatics, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Kai
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shih-Feng
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Shih-Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Jhi-Joung
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: How-Ran
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Chien-Chin
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Chien-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hung-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011187:Posture; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Health care provider; Physician; Specialty; Standing; Varicose vein