Wearing flight stockings for long-haul air travel could reduce the risk of developing a potentially dangerous blood clot by 90 per cent, according to an expert who visited Dublin last week.
"For every 1,000 people who fly, around 30-40 could develop a problem that could later lead to a deep vein thrombosis or DVT," said Prof Mike Clarke, director of the UK Cochrane Institute, who analysed nine recent scientific studies involving almost 3,000 passengers on flights of at least seven hours.
"In the people who wore flight stockings in the studies, we saw a 90 per cent reduction in the risk. We were surprised that almost all of the research that has been done shows the clear benefit. None of the trials reported any noticeable adverse effects that would give cause for concern," he told The Irish Times.
The "meta-analysis" of the studies, which was published last year in the Cochrane Review, also found that flight socks could reduce swelling associated with long-haul flights.
"Some people suffer fairly badly from swelling of the leg or ankle when they fly and these stockings clearly reduce it," said Prof Clarke, who is professor of clinical epidemiology at Oxford University.
He discussed the importance of independent, systematic reviews last Thursday at the Cochrane in Ireland conference in Dublin City University's school of nursing.
Pooling data from a range of randomised studies gives a better overall picture, he said.
"It's about balance, and the bigger the number of participants the better.
"All of us have to make decisions about healthcare and we want the best information possible on the relative effects of the different treatments that we might choose."
In 2002, Ireland became the first country to provide free, national access to the Cochrane Library.
Its reviews on healthcare issues are available through the Health Research Board website: www.hrb.ie
