Life situation and function in elderly people with and without leg ulcers

Abstract

The majority of elderly patients with leg ulcers live at home and receive treatment for their ulcers within the primary health care system. Little is known about the patients' ability or behaviour in the life situation and how well they manage their daily life at home. The Philadelphia Geriatric Center Multilevel Assessment Instrument (PGC MAI) was used to assess and compare the life situation in 70 patients (mean age 79 +/- 6.5 years) with leg ulcers and in 74 elderly persons (mean age 80 +/- 5.7 years) without leg ulcers. The patients with leg ulcers had significantly lower mean values in the domains of physical health, activity of daily living (ADL), cognition, time use and social behaviour, personal adjustment and environmental quality than those without ulcers. Sixty-three percent of the patients reported ulcer-related pain, and all of them were dependent on health care personnel for dressing changes. This may indicate that the life situation among elderly persons with leg ulcers is not so good as compared with that of elderly persons without ulcers and that patients with leg ulcers are more vulnerable than elderly people of the same age.

The life situation and functional capacity of the elderly with locomotor disability in Sweden and Poland according to a model by Lawton

“…The state of health might, however, be very important. Wissing, 19 for example, compared the life situation in a Swedish community of 70 elderly patients with leg ulcers with 74 older people without ulcers. She found that the patients with leg ulcers scored lower on the PGCMAI in all domains except the Mobility Domain Index.…”

Painful leg ulcers: community nurses’ knowledge and beliefs, a feasibility study

“…This is a concern, but perhaps reflects the current leg ulceration literature, which suggests that compression is associated with a reduction of pain (Franks et al, 1994;RCN, 2006;Fogh et al, 2008). Furthermore, some patients do not experience a reduction in pain with compression, regardless of correct and appropriate application (Phillips et al, 1994;Chase et al, 2000;Wissing and Unosson, 2002;Nemeth et al, 2004;Hareendran et al, 2005;Heinen et al, 2007;Park et al, 2008;Price et al, 2008). This may create confusion in the nurses applying the compression.…”

Hvordan pasienter opplever å leve med leggsår

“…Dette påvirket nattesøvnen og førte til dårlige dager. Smerter hos pasienter med venøse leggsår har vist seg å vaere et stort problem (5,9,10,11,15,30), men studier viser også at de verste smertene er knyttet til sår med en arteriell komponent i tillegg (10). Flere pasienter i denne studien hadde høy alder, og en arteriell komponent i leggsåret.…”