Quality of life assessment in chronic wound patients using the Wound-QoL and FLQA-Wk instruments.
Tatiele Naiara Vogt, Francisco José Koller, Pamella Naiana Dias Santos and 3 others
PMID 33306901WHAT IT FOUND
Sex, education and age did not separate the compared quality-of-life domains.
Chronic wound patients still scored poorly on both tools, especially for body symptoms and psychological well-being.
Key findings
01The Wound-QoL global score was 37.50 and the FLQA-Wk total score was 44.20, both below average.
02On the Wound-QoL, body symptoms had the lowest average; on the FLQA-Wk, psychological well-being had the lowest average.
03No significant differences were found between sex, age or schooling and the compared quality-of-life domains, although age correlated with lower satisfaction on the FLQA-Wk.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It was a one-time survey of 100 patients at two clinics, so it cannot show causes or changes over time. The sample was non-probabilistic and mostly from a university hospital, with 92 of 100 patients there, so it may not represent all chronic wound patients. Patients with cancer wounds, altered mental state or communication problems were excluded, so it says little about those groups. Some patients needed help reading the questionnaires, which could affect their answers.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the questionnaires improved care or that chronic wounds caused low quality of life. This was a one-time survey of 100 patients in two clinics, with no comparison group, no follow-up and no treatment being tested.