Women with lipoedema: a national survey on their health, health-related quality of life, and sense of coherence

BMC Women's Health

Table 1 Descriptive statistics of participants’ sociodemographic and self-reported lipoedema characteristics

Variables	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Age (years)	245
18–39	16	6.5
40–49	57	23.3
50–59	97	39.6
60–69	45	18.4
70 and older	30	12.2
Educational level	245
Mandatory/High school	64	26.1
Upper secondary/University	181	73.9
Occupation^a	244
Working full-time	132	54.1
Working part-time	38	15.6
Studying	9	3.7
On sick leave (wholly or partially)	33	13.5
Unemployed	9	3.7
Retired	48	19.7
Age at lipoedema onset (years)	245
11 or younger	19	7.8
12–17	99	40.4
18–29	51	20.8
30–39	26	10.6
40–49	24	9.8
50 or older	26	10.6
Confirmed diagnosis	244
Yes	186	76.2
No/Do not know	58	23.8
Age at diagnosis (years)	186
12–29	3	1.6
30–39	30	16.1
40–49	52	28.0
50–59	65	34.9
60 or older	36	19.4
Lipoedema stage^b	245
Stage 1	23	9.4
Stage 2	81	33.1
Stage 3^c	133	54.3
Do not know	8	3.3

^a30 participants responded to more than one response option here. Among those, the most common combination (n = 7) included those working part-time and on sick leave part-time
^bParticipants who responded to being in more than one stage were then grouped into their most advanced stage
^cStage 3 also includes participants who reported being in stage 4 (n = 11), which was classified as lipoedema stage 3 with secondary lymphedema

ISSN: 1472-6874