Functional capacity and quality of life of patients with chronic wounds

Aline Oliveira,Andressa Alvarenga,Daniel Rocha,Franciane Freitas,Sandra Bezerra,Lídya Nogueira

doi:10.30886/estima.v16.612

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate functional capacity and quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic wounds. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study composed of 74 patients with chronic wounds accompanied at a reference center for the treatment of complex wounds in Teresina, state of Piaui. Data were collected using the Katz index and the Cardiﬀ Wound Impact Schedule. Results: Among the domains, the “well-being” had a lower mean score and the degree of dependence obtained a signiﬁcant association with the well-being and “social life” domains. The bathing, dressing, personal hygiene and locomotion activities showed an association between the domains of QoL. Conclusion: The degree of independence in performing the basic activities of daily living, especially bathing, dressing and personal hygiene, presented higher scores between domains, indicating a better QoL. It is expected that the implantation of measures that help to preserve the functional capacity will improve the patients’ QoL.

Highlights

Chronic wounds refer to skin injurys with delayed healing, comprising a period of more than 6 weeks and presenting a high rate of recurrences
Consists of a speci c and self-validated tool, validated in the Brazilian version[14], with good internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.920) and composed of 47 items distributed in the domains “well-being”(seven items),“physical symptoms and daily life”(24 items),“social life”(14 items) and self-assessment of QoL2. e items are classi ed as Likert-type scale and transformed into scores ranging from 0 to 100, where the higher the score, will be better the QV12. e Katz index is commonly used to measure the degree of independence and functional capacity in the performance of six functions of daily life, such as: feeding, continence, transference, go to the toilet, dressing and bathing[13,15]
The well-being domain presented lower mean quality of life (QoL) score, while the physical symptoms domains and daily life and social life had similar and higher average scores. These results are consistent with other studies that used the Cardi Wound Impact Schedule (CWIS) questionnaire to assess the QoL of people with wounds[18,19]

Summary

Introduction

Chronic wounds refer to skin injurys with delayed healing, comprising a period of more than 6 weeks and presenting a high rate of recurrences. These wounds are characterized by a delay in the physiological repair that leads to a pathological inflammatory state and causes physical, psychosocial and economic changes in people affected by them[1,2]. Chronic wounds can cause pain, edema and impair mobility, factors that negatively affect patients’ functional capacity, since its lead problems related to social interaction, loss of self-esteem, poor self-care, and, compromise QoL4. The evaluation of QoL is considered a measure of health outcome, since it attends to the assumption of individualizing attention and considering the subjectivity of the person attented[6], making clear the necessity to realize studies that cover this subject and the therapeutic alternatives existing nowadays[7]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion