Qualitative study on experiences reported by people with complex wounds In Primary Health Care.
Dalila Reis Barbosa, Caio Vieira de Barros Arato, Rodrigo Almeida Bastos and 4 others
PMID 41739673WHAT IT FOUND
People with long-standing lower-limb wounds described distress beyond pain: lost social life, communication gaps, and faith that could sustain hope or fuel fear of punishment.
Ask patients about these meanings.
Key findings
01Participants described distress beyond physical pain, including loss of autonomy, social life, family role, stigma, frustration, and hopelessness.
02They experienced a gap between what professionals said and what they heard, which could reinforce a belief that the wound was incurable.
03Religion and faith served as coping strategies, supporting optimism and hope for healing but also appearing as punishment, superstition, or fear of death.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only eight patients from five primary care units in Amparo were interviewed, so the themes cannot be assumed to represent all people with complex wounds. The sample was convenience-based and included only patients with lower-limb wounds lasting more than six months, excluding people with speech or cognitive impairments. Each person was interviewed only once, so changes over time were not followed. The interviewer was a nurse in the same healthcare network, which may have caused response bias, although she did not interview patients she had treated. Verbatim transcripts were not released, so readers cannot inspect the original wording behind the themes. The study reports experiences and meanings, not tested interventions or causal effects on healing, adherence, or distress.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration is provided in the supplied article text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that asking about faith or changing communication will reduce distress or improve wound healing. This study describes patients' experiences and did not test an intervention.