TY - JOUR
T1 - The profile of patients with venous leg ulcers
T2 - A systematic review and global perspective
AU - Gethin, G.
AU - Vellinga, A.
AU - Tawfick, W.
AU - O'Loughlin, A.
AU - McIntosh, C.
AU - Mac Gilchrist, C.
AU - Murphy, L.
AU - Ejiugwo, M.
AU - O'Regan, M.
AU - Cameron, A.
AU - Ivory, J. D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Tissue Viability Society
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Background: A holistic profile that includes demographic, medical history and wound characteristics of individuals with venous leg ulceration is lacking. Lack of such a profile negatively impacts the ability to develop interventions to improve patient outcomes. Objectives: To describe the profile of the patient population with venous leg ulceration from published observational (non-interventional) studies and to identify gaps in the knowledge base for future research in this area. Methods: A systematic review of observational studies that included more than 50 patients, from any world region, of any age and in any care setting. Results: twenty studies, involving 3395 patients, from all world regions met our criteria. Demographic characteristics were well reported and showed a female to male ratio of 1.2:1, average age of 47–65 years, high levels of co-morbidities including hypertension (53–71%) and diabetes (16–20%), and only one study reporting ethnicity. When reported, approximately 4–30% had high levels of depression. The average wound size was 18.6–43.39 cm2; mean wound duration was 13.8–65.5 months, mean number of recurrences was four. No study reported on demographic factors plus medical history plus wound characteristics together. Conclusion: a comprehensive, holistic profile of the population with VLU is lacking. There is a critical need for more comprehensive profiling to enable the development of targeted interventions to improve outcomes.
AB - Background: A holistic profile that includes demographic, medical history and wound characteristics of individuals with venous leg ulceration is lacking. Lack of such a profile negatively impacts the ability to develop interventions to improve patient outcomes. Objectives: To describe the profile of the patient population with venous leg ulceration from published observational (non-interventional) studies and to identify gaps in the knowledge base for future research in this area. Methods: A systematic review of observational studies that included more than 50 patients, from any world region, of any age and in any care setting. Results: twenty studies, involving 3395 patients, from all world regions met our criteria. Demographic characteristics were well reported and showed a female to male ratio of 1.2:1, average age of 47–65 years, high levels of co-morbidities including hypertension (53–71%) and diabetes (16–20%), and only one study reporting ethnicity. When reported, approximately 4–30% had high levels of depression. The average wound size was 18.6–43.39 cm2; mean wound duration was 13.8–65.5 months, mean number of recurrences was four. No study reported on demographic factors plus medical history plus wound characteristics together. Conclusion: a comprehensive, holistic profile of the population with VLU is lacking. There is a critical need for more comprehensive profiling to enable the development of targeted interventions to improve outcomes.
KW - Patient profile
KW - Systematic review
KW - Venous leg ulcers
KW - Wound characteristics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089697913&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jtv.2020.08.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jtv.2020.08.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 32839066
AN - SCOPUS:85089697913
SN - 0965-206X
VL - 30
SP - 78
EP - 88
JO - Journal of Tissue Viability
JF - Journal of Tissue Viability
IS - 1
ER -