Health and quality of life in patients with leg lymphedema during maintenance phase

Background: Complex decongestive therapy (CDT) is the standard conservative treatment for lymphedema. This study aims to provide insights into the maintenance phase of CDT, its impact on health and quality of life over six months, and identify factors influencing these outcomes in individuals with leg lymphedema. Patients and methods: This prospective cohort study assessed health and quality of life by Short-Form-36, Freiburg Quality of Life Assessment for lymphatic disorders (FLQA-lk), Knee Outcome Survey Activities of Daily Living Scale, Symptom Checklist-90 Revised, and Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Health status was expressed by means (±SD) and standardised response means (SRMs). Multivariate linear regression explored the score change of FLQA-lk. Results: Participants were on average aged 53.9 years, female (75.9%), and had two comorbidities (n = 87). On 22/26 dimensions, average improvements ranged from 8.7 to 0.7 (scores) respectively from -0.05 to 0.51 (SRMs). Most participants (89.7%) continued with manual lymphatic drainage and wore stockings regularly (95%) at baseline. Formal education, exercise and compression showed the highest, in trend statistically significant partial correlations. Conclusions: Health and quality of life in individuals with leg lymphedema can be stabilised and slightly improved during the maintenance phase of the CDT with regular use of compression stockings and manual lymphatic drainage.