Phlebology
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The relationship between patient and hospital characteristics and their influence on quality of life (QoL) variance following varicose vein treatment is little understood. Whilst Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can record postoperative outcomes, the actual comparison of PROMs between hospitals can be misleading when the clustered nature of varicose vein care is overlooked. Multilevel models can accommodate hierarchical data and therefore can provide a more accurate reflection of the relationship between patients and hospitals when investigating postoperative outcomes. ⋯ Although QoL is intrinsically tied to an individual, hospitals can provide a small but potentially important benefit in AVVQ improvement following vein treatment. A patient-centred approach is therefore recommended to optimise patient outcomes.