Description and Utilization of Telewound Monitoring Services in Primary Care Patients with Acute Wounds in Singapore: A Retrospective Study.
Xiaoli Zhu, Barnabas Felix Soh Jia Ren, Voon Hooi Lim and 5 others
PMID 36125454WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with acute wounds who self-managed dressings and sent photos to nurses healed in an average of 11.7 days, comparable to face-to-face care.
Older patients and those with slower healing required more in-person visits, suggesting age and complexity predict remote service success.
Key findings
01The mean age of patients using the service was 27.9 years, and the average time needed for wound healing was 11.7 days.
02For every 30-year increase in age, the number of required face-to-face sessions increased by one, and telewound sessions decreased.
03Healing time was comparable between the telewound monitoring service and face-to-face visits for uncomplicated acute wounds.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective, so data on eligible patients who refused to enroll were not available, creating potential selection bias. The quality of wound images taken by patients on personal devices was not evaluated, so it is unknown if all photos were adequate for clinical assessment. Important factors affecting wound healing, such as tobacco use, diabetes status, and nutrition, were not recorded. The study did not measure patient satisfaction or compare outcomes directly to a control group receiving only face-to-face care.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume telewound monitoring is universally effective for all ages or wound types. The study showed that older patients and those with complex or slow-healing wounds required significantly more face-to-face visits, indicating that remote care alone may be insufficient for these groups.