Dataset Information

"Wounds Home Alone"-Why and How Venous Leg Ulcer Patients Self-Treat Their Ulcer: A Qualitative Content Study.

ABSTRACT: Venous leg ulcers (VLUs), the most common type of leg ulcerations, have long healing times and high recurrence rates; reimbursement rules and a general shortage of nursing staff have put self-treatment into focus. The study aimed to investigate why and how patients with VLUs self-treat their ulcers. Patients with VLUs (N = 32) were selected by criterion sampling for a multicentric qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analyzed via inductive qualitative content analysis. More than two-thirds of participants sometimes self-treated VLU and one quarter changed their prescribed treatment. Experiences were expressed through four themes as follows: (a) current local VLU therapy; (b) VLU self-treatment; (c) patient education; and (d) psychosocial issues. The main reasons for self-treatment were a lack of healthcare resources, reimbursement restrictions, and dissatisfaction with conventional treatment together with insufficient knowledge about the wound-healing process and possible side effects. No educational materials were provided for patients or caregivers. Many patients adopted homemade remedies. Patients with VLUs practice self-care due to limited healthcare availability, a low awareness of the causes of their condition, and the effects of therapy on VLU healing. Future educational intervention is needed to enhance self-treatment.

SUBMITTER: Zulec M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6406886 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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"Wounds Home Alone"-Why and How Venous Leg Ulcer Patients Self-Treat Their Ulcer: A Qualitative Content Study.

Žulec Mirna M Rotar-Pavlič Danica D Puharić Zrinka Z Žulec Ana A

International journal of environmental research and public health 20190215 4

<h4>Background</h4>Venous leg ulcers (VLUs), the most common type of leg ulcerations, have long healing times and high recurrence rates; reimbursement rules and a general shortage of nursing staff have put self-treatment into focus. The study aimed to investigate why and how patients with VLUs self-treat their ulcers.<h4>Methods</h4>Patients with VLUs (<i>N</i> = 32) were selected by criterion sampling for a multicentric qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. The interviews were ana ...[more]

PMID: 30769943

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Project description:BackgroundThe level of personal health literacy of patients with venous leg ulcers is likely to affect their ability to self-manage their condition impacting on their adherence to treatment and influences healing and recovery outcomes.ObjectivesTo scope existing research that examined the level of health literacy in venous leg ulcer patients, to identify how this may link to self-management behaviours (particularly physical activity and compression adherence), and venous leg ulcer healing outcomes.MethodsThis scoping review was based on the PRISMA-ScR six-stage framework. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, PsycInfo and Health, Open Grey, and Google Scholar for publications examining general and specific health literacy in those with venous leg ulcers and for those examining any potential links of health literacy with self-management/healing generally, published between 2000-2020. This search was guided by a published protocol; studies that described other types of ulcers or did not examine health literacy were excluded. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria the initial search identified 660 articles.ResultsWe included five articles. Four studies used randomised controlled trials or experimental designs to test the effect of specific health literacy interventions on venous leg ulcer knowledge, compression therapy use, or healing outcomes. One study was a cross- sectional survey with qualitative elements, assessing health literacy in venous leg ulcer patients. Broadly, the research suggested that health literacy was suboptimal amongst those with venous leg ulcers, and health literacy interventions had limited effects on improving key venous leg ulcer specific outcomes.ConclusionThis review provides a synthesis of extant literature examining health literacy in patients with venous leg ulcers. We identified a dearth of literature investigating the value of general and specific health literacy interventions in this space. Most importantly, no recent research on general health literacy and venous leg ulcers was identified, despite strong theoretical utility to do so. The few studies identified largely indicated that targeting health literacy of patients with venous leg ulcers is a viable area of research and intervention, encouraging future researchers and clinicians to consider patient health literacy in venous leg ulcer management.

Dataset Information

"Wounds Home Alone"-Why and How Venous Leg Ulcer Patients Self-Treat Their Ulcer: A Qualitative Content Study.

Publications

"Wounds Home Alone"-Why and How Venous Leg Ulcer Patients Self-Treat Their Ulcer: A Qualitative Content Study.

Similar Datasets

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