Experiences of patients with hard-to-heal wounds: insights from a pilot survey.

IF 1.5 4区 医学 Q3 DERMATOLOGY
Naz Wahab, R Allyn Forsyth
{"title":"Experiences of patients with hard-to-heal wounds: insights from a pilot survey.","authors":"Naz Wahab, R Allyn Forsyth","doi":"10.12968/jowc.2024.0109","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To learn about the experiences of people who seek treatment for hard-to-heal wounds, we distributed a nationwide pilot survey, asking questions about the nature of their wound, how it shaped their daily lives, pathways to receiving care and experiences with treatment. The long-term objective is to quantify the journey of patients with hard-to-heal wounds to identify ideal intervention points that will lead to the best outcomes. This article summarises the findings, implications, limitations and suggestions for future research.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Qualitative data were self-reported from patients with hard-to-heal wounds (open for ≥4 weeks) in a pilot chatbot survey, (Wound Expert Survey (WES)) provided online in the US on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) between 2021 and 2022.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The US national pilot survey attracted responses from 780 patients, 27 of whom provided a video testimonial. Some 57% of patients delayed treatment because they believed their wound would heal on its own, and only 4% saw a wound care specialist. Respondents reported the cost of care as the most frequent reason for not following all of a doctor's treatment recommendations. Queries regarding quality of life (QoL) revealed that more than half (65%) said they have negative thoughts associated with their wound at least every few days. Some 19% of respondents said their wound had an odour and, of them, 34% said odour had a major or severe negative impact on their self-confidence. Economically, nearly one-quarter of respondents said having a wound led to a drop in their total household income and 17% said their wound led to a change in their employment status.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>A national pilot survey of patients with hard-to-heal wounds revealed that many delay seeking professional assistance and only a small minority see a wound care specialist. Experiencing an ulcer, even for a few months, can have significant negative effects on a patient's QoL. Patients frequently had negative thoughts associated with their wound, and odour compounded these negative effects, leading to major or severe negative impacts on self-confidence. Households experienced a decline in income, due to both the direct reduction or loss of patient employment and the additional time spent by family members assisting in patient recovery. Thus, a variety of factors contribute to poor outcomes for patients with hard-to-heal wounds. To validate and extend these preliminary results, future surveys of patients with hard-to-heal wounds should focus on additional reasons patients do not seek professional help sooner. To improve health outcomes and QoL, assessment of patient socioeconomic variables should occur whenever wound closure stalls.</p>","PeriodicalId":17590,"journal":{"name":"Journal of wound care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of wound care","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.12968/jowc.2024.0109","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"DERMATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: To learn about the experiences of people who seek treatment for hard-to-heal wounds, we distributed a nationwide pilot survey, asking questions about the nature of their wound, how it shaped their daily lives, pathways to receiving care and experiences with treatment. The long-term objective is to quantify the journey of patients with hard-to-heal wounds to identify ideal intervention points that will lead to the best outcomes. This article summarises the findings, implications, limitations and suggestions for future research.

Method: Qualitative data were self-reported from patients with hard-to-heal wounds (open for ≥4 weeks) in a pilot chatbot survey, (Wound Expert Survey (WES)) provided online in the US on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) between 2021 and 2022.

Results: The US national pilot survey attracted responses from 780 patients, 27 of whom provided a video testimonial. Some 57% of patients delayed treatment because they believed their wound would heal on its own, and only 4% saw a wound care specialist. Respondents reported the cost of care as the most frequent reason for not following all of a doctor's treatment recommendations. Queries regarding quality of life (QoL) revealed that more than half (65%) said they have negative thoughts associated with their wound at least every few days. Some 19% of respondents said their wound had an odour and, of them, 34% said odour had a major or severe negative impact on their self-confidence. Economically, nearly one-quarter of respondents said having a wound led to a drop in their total household income and 17% said their wound led to a change in their employment status.

Conclusion: A national pilot survey of patients with hard-to-heal wounds revealed that many delay seeking professional assistance and only a small minority see a wound care specialist. Experiencing an ulcer, even for a few months, can have significant negative effects on a patient's QoL. Patients frequently had negative thoughts associated with their wound, and odour compounded these negative effects, leading to major or severe negative impacts on self-confidence. Households experienced a decline in income, due to both the direct reduction or loss of patient employment and the additional time spent by family members assisting in patient recovery. Thus, a variety of factors contribute to poor outcomes for patients with hard-to-heal wounds. To validate and extend these preliminary results, future surveys of patients with hard-to-heal wounds should focus on additional reasons patients do not seek professional help sooner. To improve health outcomes and QoL, assessment of patient socioeconomic variables should occur whenever wound closure stalls.

伤口难以愈合患者的经历:试点调查的启示。
调查目的为了了解难以愈合伤口患者的求医经历,我们在全国范围内开展了一项试点调查,询问他们伤口的性质、伤口对他们日常生活的影响、接受治疗的途径以及治疗经历。长期目标是量化难愈合伤口患者的治疗过程,以确定能带来最佳疗效的理想干预点。本文总结了研究结果、影响、局限性以及对未来研究的建议:方法:2021年至2022年期间,在美国的Meta平台(Facebook和Instagram)上开展了一项试点聊天机器人调查(伤口专家调查(WES)),由伤口难以愈合(开放时间≥4周)的患者自我报告定性数据:美国全国试点调查吸引了 780 名患者的回复,其中 27 人提供了视频推荐。约 57% 的患者认为伤口会自行愈合,因此推迟了治疗,只有 4% 的患者看了伤口护理专家。受访者表示,护理费用是不完全遵从医生治疗建议的最常见原因。有关生活质量(QoL)的询问显示,超过半数的受访者(65%)表示,他们至少每隔几天就会产生与伤口有关的负面想法。约 19% 的受访者表示他们的伤口有异味,其中 34% 的受访者表示异味对他们的自信心造成了重大或严重的负面影响。在经济上,近四分之一的受访者表示,伤口导致其家庭总收入下降,17%的受访者表示,伤口导致其就业状况发生变化:一项针对难以愈合伤口患者的全国性试点调查显示,许多患者迟迟不寻求专业帮助,只有少数患者会去看伤口护理专家。出现溃疡,即使只有几个月,也会对患者的生活质量产生严重的负面影响。患者经常会产生与伤口有关的负面想法,而异味则加剧了这些负面影响,导致自信心受到重大或严重的负面影响。由于患者就业的直接减少或丧失,以及家庭成员协助患者康复所花费的额外时间,家庭收入出现下降。由此可见,多种因素导致伤口难以愈合的患者治疗效果不佳。为了验证和扩展这些初步结果,未来对伤口难愈合患者的调查应关注患者没有尽早寻求专业帮助的其他原因。为了改善健康状况和生活质量,每当伤口愈合出现停滞时,都应该对患者的社会经济变量进行评估。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Journal of wound care
Journal of wound care DERMATOLOGY-
CiteScore
2.90
自引率
10.50%
发文量
215
期刊介绍: Journal of Wound Care (JWC) is the definitive wound-care journal and the leading source of up-to-date research and clinical information on everything related to tissue viability. The journal was first launched in 1992 and aimed at catering to the needs of the multidisciplinary team. Published monthly, the journal’s international audience includes nurses, doctors and researchers specialising in wound management and tissue viability, as well as generalists wishing to enhance their practice. In addition to cutting edge and state-of-the-art research and practice articles, JWC also covers topics related to wound-care management, education and novel therapies, as well as JWC cases supplements, a supplement dedicated solely to case reports and case series in wound care. All articles are rigorously peer-reviewed by a panel of international experts, comprised of clinicians, nurses and researchers. Specifically, JWC publishes: High quality evidence on all aspects of wound care, including leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, the diabetic foot, burns, surgical wounds, wound infection and more The latest developments and innovations in wound care through both preclinical and preliminary clinical trials of potential new treatments worldwide In-depth prospective studies of new treatment applications, as well as high-level research evidence on existing treatments Clinical case studies providing information on how to deal with complex wounds Comprehensive literature reviews on current concepts and practice, including cost-effectiveness Updates on the activities of wound care societies around the world.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信