INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCREEN TIME AND VENOUS INSUFFICIENCY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC VENOUS INSUFFICIENCY

OBJECTIVE: Varicose veins are usually seen in the legs and cause pain, tingling and aesthetic problems. In patients diagnosed with venous insufficiency, many comorbid conditions such as smartphone addiction that impair the quality of life are detected. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between smartphone addiction and venous insufficiency. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 350 patients who applied to the Cardiovascular Surgery clinic with complaints of leg pain and tingling and were diagnosed with venous insufficiency. The Turkish version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) was applied to the patients. The patients who were evaluated for venous insufficiency with lower extremity venous doppler were classified from C1 to C6 according to the Clinical-Etiology-Anatomy-Pathophysiology (CEAP) classification. The patients' scores from the scales were compared among themselves. RESULTS: A total of 96 (21.7%) male patients and 254 (78.3%) female patients were included in the study. Their ages ranged from 25 to 84 years, and the mean age was 46.88±14.4 years. The mean Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) score of the patients participating in the study was determined as 46.94 (±30.68). CONCLUSIONS: Venous insufficiency is a common condition. The presence of smartphone addiction has been demonstrated to have a correlative relationship with an increased degree of venous insufficiency. However, our study should be supported by further studies.