Patient-reported outcome measures for chronic wounds with particular reference to pressure ulcer research: A systematic review

Pressure ulcers are a major health problem, affect patient psychological, physical and social functioning, and cause significant treatment burden. For comprehensive assessment of the benefits of an intervention, patient-reported evidence of the impact of an intervention on important patient outcomes should be made. We systematically reviewed the quality of life literature on chronic wounds to determine the suitability of generic and chronic wound-specific outcome measures for use in evaluating patient outcomes in pressure ulcer research. A systematic review of the literature. Searches of eight electronic databases from inception until May 2012 were undertaken. Quality of life domains, item content and content relevance were determined for identified outcome measures. The content validity of identified measures was assessed against an empirically derived pressure ulcer-specific conceptual framework. Three generic and 14 chronic wound measures were identified but no pressure ulcer-specific measures. None of the existing measures cover all quality of life domains important in pressure ulcers. One condition-specific measure, the Venous Leg Ulcer Measure, matched most closely conceptually, but failed to represent three important domains and contained items not specific to pressure ulcers. Currently, outcomes important in pressure ulcers are inadequately covered by generic and chronic wound-specific instruments despite similar conceptual models. Highlighted is the need for clear conceptualisation of content as well as determining appropriateness when selecting outcome measures in the future.