Prevalence of comorbidities associated with lipedema. A comparative study with the general population

ObjectiveTo analyse and compare the prevalence of comorbidities associated with lipedema in Spanish women with that in the general population.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using an anonymous online questionnaire distributed among lipedema patient associations in Spain. Sociodemographic variables, clinical aspects, and comorbidities were collected. These were then compared with data from the 2023 National Health Survey, which represents the general Spanish population. The prevalence of each pathology was compared using odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Age-group contributions were assessed using standardised residuals from expected/observed contingency tables, considering absolute values >1.96 (95% confidence) to be significant.ResultsA total of 1001 responses were obtained, with a mean age of 44.2 years. The most prevalent comorbidities were vitamin D deficiency (63.4%), lower limb venous insufficiency (47.2%), and migraine (43.1%). Compared to the general female population in Spain, patients with lipedema were more likely to suffer from venous insufficiency (OR= 5.05; 95% CI: 4.3-5.8), urinary incontinence (OR= 4.93; 95% CI: 4.1-5.8), migraine (OR= 3.9; 95% CI: 3.4-4.5), thyroid disease (OR= 2.21; 95% CI: 1.8-2.6), and asthma (OR= 2.09; 95% CI: 1.7-2.5). However, the probability of hypertension (OR= 0.38; 95% CI: 0.2-0.4) and diabetes (OR= 0.36; 95% CI: 0.2-0.6) was significantly lower.ConclusionsSpanish women with lipedema have a higher prevalence of certain pathologies that should be considered in their medical care. Understanding these relationships is crucial to improving the detection and treatment of patients.