Analyzing factors affecting quality of life in patients hospitalized with chronic wound

Abstract

Background Studies have reported associations between health‐related quality of life (HRQOL), social support, and mental stress of patients with chronic wound, while the causal relationship is unclear and little is known about the HRQOL of hospitalized them. We therefore investigated the status of HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound and the causal relationships among social support, mental stress (anxiety and depression) and HRQOL of which. Methods A cross‐sectional survey was conducted and the demographic and disease characteristics, HRQOL, perceived social support and mental stress of 216 hospitalized patients with chronic wound was surveyed through questionnaires collected by face to face interview. Results (1) The HRQOL of the non‐retired patients was better than that of the retirees (P < .05); Patients with a diabetic foot ulcer, who slept less than 5 hours per night, with moderate pain, wound odor had worse HRQOL (P < .05); Sleep status, diagnosis, and pain scores were entered into the prediction equation of physiological quality of life (PQOL) of the patients (r2 = 0.125, P < .05), retired or not and wound odor were entered into the prediction equation of mental quality of life (MQOL) (r2 = 0.127, P < .05). (2) Perceived social support had a positive predictive effect on the HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound (β = 1.161, P < .001), and a negative predictive effect on mental stress of them (β = −0.902, P < .001). The effect of social support on the HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound was to provide a buffering effect on their mental stress, the estimated value was 2.121, 95% CI (1.46, 3.25). Conclusion (a) The HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound was poor and sleep status, diagnosis, pain, retirement status and whether the wound has odor were the main demographic and disease characteristic factors which affected their HRQOL. (2) Perceived social support improved the HRQOL of hospitalized patients with chronic wound by buffering their mental stress.

Health‐related quality of life and chronic wound characteristics among patients with chronic wounds treated in primary care: A cross‐sectional study in Singapore

“…This finding is different from a recent study, which assessed HRQoL for patients with chronic wounds with Wound‐QoL tool and found that the overall QoL scores for male were higher than female 41 . However, the finding is in accordance with a study from China, which assessed HRQoL with SF‐36 tool and reported no difference in the overall responses to HRQoL outcomes between male and female participants 44 . This could possibly be attributed to cultural norms and beliefs which may contribute to differences in self‐reported health status, particularly in patients with chronic wound conditions.…”

“… 41 However, the finding is in accordance with a study from China, which assessed HRQoL with SF‐36 tool and reported no difference in the overall responses to HRQoL outcomes between male and female participants. 44 This could possibly be attributed to cultural norms and beliefs which may contribute to differences in self‐reported health status, particularly in patients with chronic wound conditions. For the present study, response patterns for women and men were similar to the findings in the Chinese sample 44 but different from the German sample.…”

“… 44 This could possibly be attributed to cultural norms and beliefs which may contribute to differences in self‐reported health status, particularly in patients with chronic wound conditions. For the present study, response patterns for women and men were similar to the findings in the Chinese sample 44 but different from the German sample. 41 Further studies in a Singaporean context are needed to explore relatable aspects more comprehensively.…”

“…This is rather unusual as patients with chronic wounds most frequently reported lower HRQoL in the domains related to physical functioning 13 and most patients with chronic wounds are retired. 44,45 This may indicate that chronic wound patients treated in primary care are younger compared to those in hospitals in Singapore. 5,33 The most common wound aetiologies in the present study were atypical hard-to-heal wounds and DFUs.…”

The measurement properties of assessment tools for chronic wounds: A systematic review

“…(8) A cross-sectional study by Yan et al found that health-related quality of life was poor in hospitalized patients with chronic wounds. (9) Many patients do not have access to clinicians with both wound care expertise and specialist knowledge. Data supporting this are available from the Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom.…”