Background Although a few studies reported an association between varicose veins and physical function, this potentially bidirectional association has not been systematically evaluated in the general population. Method In 5 580 participants (aged 71–90 years) from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, varicose veins were identified in outpatient and inpatient administrative data prior to (prevalent cases) and after (incident cases) visit 5 (2011–2013). Physical function was evaluated by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB, score ranging from 0 to 12). We evaluated (i) cross-sectional association between prevalent varicose veins and physical function, (ii) association of prevalent varicose veins with subsequent changes in physical function from visit 5 to visits 6 (2016–2017) and 7 (2018–2019), and (iii) association of physical function at visit 5 with incident varicose veins during a median follow-up of 3.6 years (105 incident varicose veins among 5 350 participants without prevalent cases at baseline). Results At baseline, varicose veins were recognized in 230 (4.1%) participants and cross-sectionally associated with reduced physical function. Longitudinally, prevalent varicose veins were not significantly associated with a decline in SPPB over time. In contrast, a low SPPB ≤6 was associated with a greater incidence of varicose veins compared to SPPB ≥10 (adjusted hazard ratio 2.13 [95% confidence interval = 1.19, 3.81]). Conclusion In community-dwelling older adults, varicose veins and low physical function were associated cross-sectionally. Longitudinally, low physical function was a risk factor for incident varicose veins, but not vice versa. Our findings suggest an etiological contribution of low physical function to incident varicose veins.

中文翻译：

---

临床上公认的老年人静脉曲张和身体功能：ARIC 研究


背景 尽管一些研究报告了静脉曲张与身体功能之间的关联，但这种潜在的双向关联尚未在普通人群中进行系统评估。方法 在社区动脉粥样硬化风险研究的 5 580 名参与者（年龄 71-90 岁）中，在第 5 次就诊（2011-2013 年）之前（流行病例）和之后（事件病例）的门诊和住院患者管理数据中发现了静脉曲张。身体功能通过短期身体表现电池（SPPB，分数范围从0到12）进行评估。我们评估了（i）流行的静脉曲张与身体功能之间的横断面关联，（ii）从第5次访问到第6次访问（2016-2017年）和第7次访问（2018-2019年），流行性静脉曲张与随后身体功能变化的关联， (iii) 中位随访 3.6 年期间，第 5 次访视时的身体机能与静脉曲张发生的关联（基线时无流行病例的 5 350 名参与者中有 105 例发生静脉曲张）。结果 在基线时，230 名 (4.1%) 参与者发现静脉曲张，并且与身体机能下降有关。纵向来看，流行的静脉曲张与 SPPB 随着时间的推移下降没有显着相关性。相反，与 SPPB ≥ 10 相比，低 SPPB ≤ 6 与更高的静脉曲张发生率相关（调整后的风险比 2.13 [95% 置信区间 = 1.19, 3.81]）。结论 在社区老年人中，静脉曲张和身体机能低下具有横向相关性。从纵向来看，身体机能低下是静脉曲张发生的危险因素，但反之则不然。我们的研究结果表明，身体机能低下是静脉曲张发生的病因。