A retrospective cross-sectional study comparing health-related quality-of-life in females with lipoedema and bilateral leg lymphoedema

IF 3.3 2区医学 Q2 PSYCHIATRY

Journal of Psychosomatic Research Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-31 DOI:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2026.112562

Rhiannon Stellmaker , Belinda Thompson , Helen Mackie , Vincent Singh Paramanandam , Kerry A. Sherman , Louise Koelmeyer

{"title":"A retrospective cross-sectional study comparing health-related quality-of-life in females with lipoedema and bilateral leg lymphoedema","authors":"Rhiannon Stellmaker , Belinda Thompson , Helen Mackie , Vincent Singh Paramanandam , Kerry A. Sherman , Louise Koelmeyer","doi":"10.1016/j.jpsychores.2026.112562","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Lipoedema is a condition of abnormal accumulation of painful adipose tissue, usually in the lower body of women. The disproportionate subcutaneous adipose tissue may negatively impact health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There are currently no patient reported outcome measures (PROM) specifically designed to assess the HRQoL in individuals with lipoedema. The aim of this study was to compare scores on validated lower limb lymphoedema PROMs between females with lipoedema and lymphoedema.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>In a private lymphoedema clinic in Australia between 1 October 2021 and 22 August 2023, individuals assigned female at birth, aged 18 years and older who consented to the entry of de-identified data into a research databank and completed the Lymphoedema Quality of Life tool (LYMQOL-leg) and/or Lymphoedema Symptoms Intensity and Distress Survey (LSIDS-L) for the legs were included in this study. Between group analysis was conducted on 151 participants who were either diagnosed with lipoedema <em>(N</em> <em>= 90)</em> or bilateral leg lymphoedema <em>(N</em> <em>= 61)</em>. Participants with both conditions were excluded.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Participants with lipoedema reported significantly higher burden scores for symptoms (<em>p</em> = 0.003), appearance (p = 0.003) and mood (<em>p</em> = 0.011) in the LYMQOL-leg survey when compared to participants with bilateral leg lymphoedema. Participants with lipoedema also reported significantly worse LSIDS-L scores for neurological sensation (p = 0.003), biobehavioral (<em>p</em> = 0.016) and resource (<em>p</em> = 0.008) questions compared to participants with lymphoedema.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>This study highlights that although females with lipoedema and lymphoedema experience similar symptoms, their experiences differ in specific outcomes that influence their HRQoL. These findings warrant further investigation into the HRQoL concerns of individuals with lipoedema.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50074,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychosomatic Research","volume":"203 ","pages":"Article 112562"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Psychosomatic Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399926000462","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/1/31 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Lipoedema is a condition of abnormal accumulation of painful adipose tissue, usually in the lower body of women. The disproportionate subcutaneous adipose tissue may negatively impact health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There are currently no patient reported outcome measures (PROM) specifically designed to assess the HRQoL in individuals with lipoedema. The aim of this study was to compare scores on validated lower limb lymphoedema PROMs between females with lipoedema and lymphoedema.

Methods

In a private lymphoedema clinic in Australia between 1 October 2021 and 22 August 2023, individuals assigned female at birth, aged 18 years and older who consented to the entry of de-identified data into a research databank and completed the Lymphoedema Quality of Life tool (LYMQOL-leg) and/or Lymphoedema Symptoms Intensity and Distress Survey (LSIDS-L) for the legs were included in this study. Between group analysis was conducted on 151 participants who were either diagnosed with lipoedema (N = 90) or bilateral leg lymphoedema (N = 61). Participants with both conditions were excluded.

Results

Participants with lipoedema reported significantly higher burden scores for symptoms (p = 0.003), appearance (p = 0.003) and mood (p = 0.011) in the LYMQOL-leg survey when compared to participants with bilateral leg lymphoedema. Participants with lipoedema also reported significantly worse LSIDS-L scores for neurological sensation (p = 0.003), biobehavioral (p = 0.016) and resource (p = 0.008) questions compared to participants with lymphoedema.

Conclusions

This study highlights that although females with lipoedema and lymphoedema experience similar symptoms, their experiences differ in specific outcomes that influence their HRQoL. These findings warrant further investigation into the HRQoL concerns of individuals with lipoedema.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

一项回顾性横断面研究，比较脂肪水肿和双侧腿淋巴水肿女性的健康相关生活质量。

背景：脂肪水肿是一种痛苦的脂肪组织异常堆积的情况，通常发生在女性下半身。不成比例的皮下脂肪组织可能对健康相关生活质量（HRQoL）产生负面影响。目前还没有专门设计用于评估脂水肿患者HRQoL的患者报告结果测量（PROM）。本研究的目的是比较脂肪水肿和淋巴水肿的女性下肢淋巴水肿PROMs的评分。方法：在2021年10月1日至2023年8月22日期间，在澳大利亚的一家私人淋巴水肿诊所，同意将去识别数据输入研究数据库并完成淋巴水肿生活质量工具（LYMQOL-leg）和/或淋巴水肿症状强度和痛苦调查（lsid -l）的18岁及以上出生时被指定为女性的个体纳入本研究。对151名被诊断为脂肪水肿（N = 90）或双侧腿淋巴水肿（N = 61）的参与者进行组间分析。两种情况的参与者都被排除在外。结果：在lyqol -leg调查中，与双侧腿淋巴水肿的参与者相比，脂水肿参与者报告的症状（p = 0.003）、外观（p = 0.003）和情绪（p = 0.011）负担评分显著更高。与淋巴水肿患者相比，脂水肿患者在神经感觉（p = 0.003）、生物行为（p = 0.016）和资源（p = 0.008）问题上的lsid - l评分也明显较差。结论：本研究强调，尽管脂水肿和淋巴水肿的女性症状相似，但影响其HRQoL的具体结果不同。这些发现为进一步调查血脂水肿患者的HRQoL提供了依据。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Psychosomatic Research 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

6.40%

发文量

314

审稿时长

6.2 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Psychosomatic Research is a multidisciplinary research journal covering all aspects of the relationships between psychology and medicine. The scope is broad and ranges from basic human biological and psychological research to evaluations of treatment and services. Papers will normally be concerned with illness or patients rather than studies of healthy populations. Studies concerning special populations, such as the elderly and children and adolescents, are welcome. In addition to peer-reviewed original papers, the journal publishes editorials, reviews, and other papers related to the journal''s aims.