Wound-related Pain and Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Wounds in a Metropolitan City in Nigeria: An Analytic Cross-sectional Study

Background: The prevalence of chronic wounds is expected to rise with the increasing elderly population in the society. This rise in prevalence of chronic wounds comes with its consequences such as wound pain and interference with activities of daily living. There's a paucity of data on the impact of chronic wounds in our clime.

Objective: This study was carried out to assess the prevalence of wound-related pain and the impact of wound-related pain on the quality of life of patients with chronic wounds.

Materials and methods: This was an analytic cross-sectional study of consecutive patients presenting with chronic wounds in plastic surgery clinic in a metropolitan city in Nigeria using the brief pain inventory-short form.

Result: About 371 patients were seen, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.7:1. The mean age was 37.1 ± 15.5 years. Most chronic wounds (72.2%) occurred in the lower limbs. Nearly all patients (92.9%) experienced wound pain, with a correlation between wound location and pain severity, P = 0.000. Over 50% of the patients had low wound-related quality of life. Enjoyment of life, general activity, and walking were the domains with high interference. Wound pain (P = 0.000) and wound location (P = 0.001) are significant determinants of poor wound-related quality of life.

Conclusion: Patients with chronic wounds have a high prevalence of wound-related pain and low wound-related quality of life.