# Effect of Compression Tights on Skin Temperature in Women with Lipedema
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Protocol  
The study was formed by two tests: the first one was before wearing the compression tights of the study, and the second one was performed after fifteen days [23] of wearing the compression tights assigned (a minimum of eight hours along the day) (Figure 1). The flat knitting group was provided with flat compression tights, the control group did not receive any compression tights, and the remaining group received circular compression tights. The assignment of the prototype of compression tights was randomized, and they did not know their experimental group, so it was single-blind. Participants were instructed to maintain their lifestyle during the fifteen days between tests, and these instructions reminded the authors every five days to ensure their compliance.  
In both tests, participants performed a walking displacement of 10 m walkway ten times, such as in previous studies (Figure 2) [24; 25]. The photocell system (Chronojump Boscosystem), located at the beginning and at the end of the displacement, was employed to monitor the velocity. Participants were recommended to walk at a self-selected speed according to 11 points (fairly light) in [PERSON]'s scale of perceived exertion. The velocity recorded in test one was the base/guideline to test two. The average speeds in Test 1 were  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Characteristics**} & **Total Sample** & **Control Group** & **Flat Knitting Group** & **Circular Knitting** & \multirow{2}{*}{_p_**Value**} \\  & **(n = 24)** & **(n = 9)** & **(n = 7)** & **Group (n = 8)** & \\ \hline
**Age (years)** & 41.1 \(\pm\) 9.6 & 39.3 \(\pm\) 6.8 & 42.3 \(\pm\) 11.2 & 42.0 \(\pm\) 11.4 & \(>\)0.05 \\
**Body mass (kg)** & 69.3 \(\pm\) 11.8 & 76.1 \(\pm\) 11.5 & 62.7 \(\pm\) 10.6 & 68.2 \(\pm\) 10.3 & \(>\)0.05 \\
**Height (cm)** & 154.5 \(\pm\) 32.4 & 163.6 \(\pm\) 3.3 & 157.4 \(\pm\) 5.5 & 141.4 \(\pm\) 7.0 & \(>\)0.05 \\
**BMI (kg/m2)** & 26.9 \(\pm\) 4.5 & 28.5 \(\pm\) 4.9 & 25.4 \(\pm\) 4.9 & 26.5 \(\pm\) 4.5 & \(>\)0.05 \\
**Grade** & I = 25\% & I = 22\% & I = 14\% & I = 25\% & \\
**Grade** & II = 75\% & II = 78\% & II = 86\% & II = 75\% & \(>\)0.05 \\
**Compressive experience** & **(hours/day)** & 10.71 \(\pm\) 2.39 & 0 \(\pm\) 0 & 9.9 \(\pm\) 3.2 & 11.9 \(\pm\) 1.5 & \(>\)0.05 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* The _p_-value of parametric variables was calculated by one-factor ANOVA. The case of non-parametric variables was calculated through Kruskal-Wallis test and by chi-squared test for nominal variables such as “Grade”. The control group was not considered in the analysis of the variable “compressive tights use”.  
\end{table}
Table 1: Sociodemographic characteristics of the sample.  
Figure 1: Study experimental design: periods and test protocol.  
1.3 \(\pm\) 0.2 m/s (control), 1.3 \(\pm\) 1.2 m/s (flat), and 1.3 \(\pm\) 0.1 m/s (circular). The average speeds in Test 2 were 1.3 \(\pm\) 0.2 m/s (control), 1.3 \(\pm\) 1.1 m/s (flat), and 1.3 \(\pm\) 0.1 m/s (circular). The different tests and conditions did not present differences between them (\(p\) > 0.05). They received feedback continuously about their velocity to maintain a maximum of 5% variation in the velocity in all the repetitions [26]. Skin temperature was measured each day at rest (before the gait test) and after exercise (after the gait test). Compression tights were removed before the thermal room adaptation period in pre-exercise measurement and immediately after finishing the gait test in the post-exercise moment for skin temperature assessment. Then, 10 min and 1 min took place between compression tight removing and thermal images in pre-exercise and post-exercise measurements, respectively. No changes were observed in adipose tissue between both days, according to the measurements of the leg perimeters conducted.