The short-term impact of non-removable offloading devices on quality of life in people with recurrent diabetic foot ulcers
The short-term impact of non-removable offloading devices on quality of life in people with recurrent diabetic foot ulcers
Objective: Recurrent diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are associated with poor health-related quality of life and reduced mobility. Current guidelines recommend application of non-removable offloading devices (NROLDs) as they may improve the healing of DFUs, but there is a lack of information on the wider effects of wearing these devices. Few studies have examined the impact of NROLDs on holistic wellbeing or physical activity. We aimed to investigate the short-term impact of NROLDs on physical activity and DFU-related quality of life (DFU-QoL) in a small sample of community-dwelling people with recurrent DFUs.
Method: We measured DFU-QoL and physical activity (GPAQ) in people with DFUs, recruited from a single clinic before NROLD application, and at three and six weeks after device fitting. Participants were aged from 39-81 years (mean 58.4±10.1 years) with an equal number of male and female participants.
Results: The study cohort comprised 18 participants, of whom 14 (78%) completed six-week questionnaires. Although there was some interim decline observed within individual domains of the DFU-QoL (financial: mean difference (MD) 16.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1, 30.2); p=0.03); non-compliance: MD 12.5 (95% CI-0.2, 25.2); p=0.05), no differences were observed over six weeks. Levels of physical activity declined over time, with over half (56%) of participants classified as having low levels of physical activity at baseline, rising to two-thirds (67%) at follow-up.
Conclusion: Future studies should explore the longer-term holistic impact of NROLDs and develop more personalised approaches to care at the point of prescription, during and post-device use.
casts, diabetes, foot ulcer, personalised care, physical activity, quality of life, sedentary behaviour, wound, wound care, wound healing
214-219
Delpierre, Thomas
252f39d6-05b2-4d05-9af1-47cadb8da6ae
Mccormick, Keith
95d56eea-74aa-4b48-b950-ab8207e57d08
Backhouse, Michael
f4bd2352-4543-45a4-bff3-2cae6b511570
Bruce, Julie
9a531eb0-95e8-4dc9-a4d5-6679fe0a1315
Cherry, Lindsey
95256156-ce8c-4e7c-b04d-b6e459232441
2 April 2023
Delpierre, Thomas
252f39d6-05b2-4d05-9af1-47cadb8da6ae
Mccormick, Keith
95d56eea-74aa-4b48-b950-ab8207e57d08
Backhouse, Michael
f4bd2352-4543-45a4-bff3-2cae6b511570
Bruce, Julie
9a531eb0-95e8-4dc9-a4d5-6679fe0a1315
Cherry, Lindsey
95256156-ce8c-4e7c-b04d-b6e459232441
Delpierre, Thomas, Mccormick, Keith, Backhouse, Michael, Bruce, Julie and Cherry, Lindsey
(2023)
The short-term impact of non-removable offloading devices on quality of life in people with recurrent diabetic foot ulcers.
Journal of Wound Care, 32 (4), .
(doi:10.12968/jowc.2023.32.4.214).
Abstract
Objective: Recurrent diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are associated with poor health-related quality of life and reduced mobility. Current guidelines recommend application of non-removable offloading devices (NROLDs) as they may improve the healing of DFUs, but there is a lack of information on the wider effects of wearing these devices. Few studies have examined the impact of NROLDs on holistic wellbeing or physical activity. We aimed to investigate the short-term impact of NROLDs on physical activity and DFU-related quality of life (DFU-QoL) in a small sample of community-dwelling people with recurrent DFUs.
Method: We measured DFU-QoL and physical activity (GPAQ) in people with DFUs, recruited from a single clinic before NROLD application, and at three and six weeks after device fitting. Participants were aged from 39-81 years (mean 58.4±10.1 years) with an equal number of male and female participants.
Results: The study cohort comprised 18 participants, of whom 14 (78%) completed six-week questionnaires. Although there was some interim decline observed within individual domains of the DFU-QoL (financial: mean difference (MD) 16.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1, 30.2); p=0.03); non-compliance: MD 12.5 (95% CI-0.2, 25.2); p=0.05), no differences were observed over six weeks. Levels of physical activity declined over time, with over half (56%) of participants classified as having low levels of physical activity at baseline, rising to two-thirds (67%) at follow-up.
Conclusion: Future studies should explore the longer-term holistic impact of NROLDs and develop more personalised approaches to care at the point of prescription, during and post-device use.
Text
An exploratory study of the short-term impact of non-removable offloading devices on quality of life
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 8 March 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 April 2023
Published date: 2 April 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Ethical approval was granted by the Health Research Authority (REC: 17/SC/0579, IRAS: 229586), sponsored by the University of Southampton (ref: 28465) and registered on the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Portfolio network. All participants gave written informed consent prior to enrolment into the study and all aspects of this study conformed with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 MA Healthcare Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
casts, diabetes, foot ulcer, personalised care, physical activity, quality of life, sedentary behaviour, wound, wound care, wound healing
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 468175
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/468175
ISSN: 0969-0700
PURE UUID: da5bc630-5844-412a-8961-6975f4c418d6
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Date deposited: 04 Aug 2022 16:42
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 07:23
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Author:
Thomas Delpierre
Author:
Michael Backhouse
Author:
Julie Bruce
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