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Elaborate performance indices should be used with care, since it is possible to construct a 'tailor-made' performance index to make any chosen mattress rank as the best. Care should be taken to ensure that a performance index is validated, preferably by some demonstrated link to clinical outcomes.

Complete healing is problematic as an endpoint for evaluating interventions for wound healing. The great heterogeneity of wounds makes it difficult to match groups, and this is only possible with multivariate stratification and/or very large numbers of subjects. The substantial time taken for wounds to heal necessitates a very lengthy study. Consequently, high quality randomised controlled trials demonstrating an effect of an intervention to a satisfactory level of statistical significance and with a satisfactory level of generalisability are extremely rare. This study determines that the healing of venous leg ulcers receiving multi‐component compression bandaging follows a linear trajectory over a 4‐week period, as measured by gross area healed, percentage area healed, and advance of the wound margin. The linear trajectories of these surrogates make it possible to identify an acceleration in healing resulting from an intervention, and allows self‐controlled or crossover designs with attendant advantages of statistical power and speed. Of the metrics investigated, wound margin advance was the most linear, and was also independent of initial ulcer size.

Absorbent pads have a substantial adverse effect on the pressure redistribution properties of mattresses. Pad folds appear to contribute to this effect, which can be ameliorated slightly by smoothing. Absorbent pad manufacturers should consider engineering pads that minimize disruption to pressure management. Further examination of continence and pressure management products is necessary to establish optimum combinations for nursing care.

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The development of international standards for wheelchair seating offers practical benefits in the process of matching technical characteristics of assistive technologies to individual user needs. However, information provided in technical test reports must be treated with caution when aggregating technical characteristics to classify products or when implementing funding policy. This article suggests that clustering technical characteristics of seat cushions in isolation of clinical and other user requirements is not a viable way to establish product funding codes that are responsive to clinical need.