Table 1.
Demographics of patients with lymphoedema of the arm (n = 2160)
| Characteristic(s) | Number of patients (%) |
|---|---|
| Clinical area | |
| Community care | 1 (0.05) |
| Hospital services | 238 (11.02) |
| Lymphoedema specialist | 1917 (88.75) |
| Other | 4 (0.19) |
| missing | 0 |
| Age, mean (sd) | 60.79 (12.89) |
| missing | 0 |
| Female | 2063 (95.51) |
| missing | 0 |
| Weight category | |
| Underweight | 23 (1.07) |
| Normal weight | 1430 (66.30) |
| Obesity | 635 (29.44) |
| Morbid obesity | 69 (3.20) |
| missing | 3 |
| Concomitant disease | |
| Diabetes | 210 (9.72) |
| missing | 0 |
| Heart failure/ ischemic heart disease | 102 (4.72) |
| missing | 0 |
| Neurological disease | 52 (2.41) |
| missing | 3 |
| Classification of lymphoedema | |
| Primary | 48 (2.23) |
| Secondary (all causes) | 2107 (97.77) |
| missing | 5 |
| Non-cancer secondary causes of lymphoedema | 99 (4.71) |
| Trauma or surgical procedures | 25 |
| Venous disorder incl. thrombotic | 10 |
| Immobility | 8 |
| Skin disorders incl. cellulitis | 11 |
| Obesity | 1 |
| Multiple contributing factors | 10 |
| Other or unknown | 29 |
| missing | 5 |
| Cancer-related secondary lymphoedema | 2000 (95.28) |
| missing | 8 |
| Cancer treatment | 1947 (97.50) |
| missing | 3 |
| Metastatic disease | 72 (3.61) |
| missing | 3 |
| Cancer type | |
| Breast | 450 |
| Bladder | 7 |
| Melanoma | 4 |
| Endometrial | 1 |
| Head and neck | 1 |
| Ovarian | 1 |
| Other | 3 |
| missing | 0 |
| Duration of arm lymphoedema | |
| < 1 year | 515 (23.86) |
| 1–2 years | 349 (16.17) |
| 2–5 years | 557 (25.81) |
| > 5–10 years | 445 (20.62) |
| > 10 years | 292 (13.53) |
| missing | 2 |
| General Mobility | |
| Normal | 1992 (92.31) |
| Walking aid | 136 (6.30) |
| Chair/ bed bound | 30 (1.39) |
| missing | 2 |
| Arm mobility | |
| Full | 1586 (73.49) |
| Limited/ none | 573 (26.51) |
| missing | 2 |
| Lifetime cellulitis | 483 (22.36) |
| missing | 0 |
| Recent cellulitis (< 12 months) | 243 (11.25) |
| missing | 0 |
| Upper torso swelling | 679 (31.44) |
| missing | 0 |
| Presence of an arm wound | 15 (0.70) |
| missing | 4 |
| Treatment with compression therapy | |
| Compression garment | 1731 (80.32) |
| Multilayer bandage | 725 (33.46) |
| Compression wrap | 114 (5.27) |
| At least one of the above | 1782 (82.58) |
| No compression | 376 (17.42) |
| missing | 2 |
| Good control of lymphoedema (well-controlled swelling) | 1364 (74.09) |
| missing | 319 |