Nurses’ foot health: perception, behavior, and analysis of the cardiovascular effects of different types of hosiery

Background: Prolonged hours of standing are a central part of a nurse's job and can potentially affect their foot health. Nurses often address these problems by choosing functional stockings (FS) and/or compression stockings (CS). However, it remains to be established whether nurses' perceptions regarding their foot health are related to the choice of hosiery products, furthermore, the decision between FS or CS may impact the arterial health of nurses. The aim of this study was to investigate nurses' awareness of foot health and determine whether FS or CS genuinely benefited the arterial health of the nurses' feet. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses worked regular nursing shifts in a tertiary medical center in Taipei, Taiwan after obtaining ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee. Convenience sampling method was used. Point estimate was calculated at a 95% confidence interval. Results: Nurses wearing FS exhibited lower brachial mean arterial pressure (MAP) (92.3±11.1 mmHg; P=0.03), end-systolic blood pressure (SBP) (103.4±13.1 mmHg; P=0.02), and pressure-time index (PTI) during systole (2,338.0±378.1 mmHg/s per min; P=0.04) compared with those wearing CS. Nurses wearing CS exhibited lower end-SBP (103.5±14.6 mmHg; P=0.03), prolongation in left ventricular ejection time (LVET) (316.4±19.3 ms; P=0.01), and a reduction in PTI during diastole (3,194.0±414.3 mmHg/s per min; P=0.03). Conclusions: Nurses without varicose vein issues, seeking to avoid the negative effects of CS, may find that alternative forms of comfortable FS can also contribute to arterial and cardiovascular health.