| 13 |
Clinical Research
|
Quality of life in healing diabetic wounds: does the end justify the means? First Author: David Armstrong Authors: David G. Armstrong, Lawrence A. Lavery, James S. Wrobel, Loretta Vileikyte Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the health-related quality of life amongst persons participating in a randomized clinical trial of pressure-offloading modalities to heal diabetic foot ulcers. Research Design and Methods: In this prospective clinical trial, 63 patients with superficial non-infected, non-ischemic plantar diabetic neuropathic diabetic foot ulcers were randomized to one of three offloading modalities: total contact cast (TCC), a half-shoe, or a removable cast walker (RCW). We employed a Short-Form 36 questionnaire (SF-36), to assess health-related quality of life (QoL) of patients before and after the 12-week study period. Results: Overall mean baseline physical and mental summary scores for the entire population studied were 65.2? 6.5 and 60.7 ? 5.3, There was a significant difference between pre and post-treatment response in seven of the eight SF-36 scales, with the trend in all cases suggesting improvement in overall quality of life. In general, patients' overall QoL improved regardless of pressure offloading device employed. However, this trend was erased when the groups were dichotomized based on whether or not they healed during the study period. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest the potential moderating role of a foot ulcer closure on the effects of offloading modality on QoL. The results suggest that in patients with diabetic neuropathic foot ulcers quality of life may have less to do with how an index wound is treated than if the wound is successfully healed. |
|