International study to develop the WOUND-Q patient-reported outcome measure for all types of chronic wounds

Anne F Klassen; Emiel L W G van Haren; Tert C van Alphen; Stefan Cano; Karen M Cross; Anne-Margreet van Dishoeck; Kenneth L Fan; Maarten Michael Hoogbergen; Dennis Orgill; Lotte Poulsen; Jens Ahm Sørensen; Lee Squitieri; Elena Tsangaris; Dalibor Vasilic; Andrea L Pusic

doi:10.1111/iwj.13549

International study to develop the WOUND-Q patient-reported outcome measure for all types of chronic wounds

Int Wound J. 2021 Aug;18(4):487-509. doi: 10.1111/iwj.13549. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

Authors

Anne F Klassen¹, Emiel L W G van Haren², Tert C van Alphen³, Stefan Cano⁴, Karen M Cross⁵, Anne-Margreet van Dishoeck⁶, Kenneth L Fan⁷, Maarten Michael Hoogbergen⁸, Dennis Orgill⁹, Lotte Poulsen¹⁰, Jens Ahm Sørensen¹¹, Lee Squitieri^{12

13}, Elena Tsangaris⁹, Dalibor Vasilic¹⁴, Andrea L Pusic⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Catharina Ziekenhuis, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Catharina Ziekenhuis and Da Vinci Kliniek, Geldrop, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
⁴ Modus Outcomes, Letchworth Garden City, UK.
⁵ Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Department of Plastic and Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
⁷ Department of Plastic Surgery, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, MedStar Health Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
⁸ Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Catharina Ziekenhuis, Eindhoven, and Da Vinci Kliniek, Geldrop, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
⁹ Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Research Unit for Plastic Surgery, Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, and Odense Explorative Patient Network, Odense, Denmark.
¹¹ Research Unit for Plastic Surgery, Odense University Hospital and University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
¹² RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California, USA.
¹³ Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Adventist Health White Memorial, Los Angeles, California, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for chronic wounds mainly focus on specific types of wounds. Our team developed the WOUND-Q for use with all types of wounds in any anatomic location. We conducted 60 concept elicitation interviews with patients in Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States. Analysis identified concepts of interest to patients and scales were formed and refined through cognitive interviews with 20 patients and input from 26 wound care experts. Scales were translated into Danish and Dutch. An international field-test study collected data from 881 patients (1020 assessments) with chronic wounds. Rasch measurement theory (RMT) analysis was used to refine the scales and examine psychometric properties. RMT analysis supported the reliability and validity of 13 WOUND-Q scales that measure wound characteristics (assessment, discharge, and smell), health-related quality of life (life impact, psychological, sleep impact, and social), experience of care (information, home care nurses, medical team, and office staff), and wound treatment (dressing and suction device). The WOUND-Q can be used to measure outcomes in research and clinical practice from the perspective of patients with any type of wound.

Keywords: Rasch; patient-reported outcome; quality of life; questionnaire; wounds.

MeSH terms

Bandages
Humans
Patient Reported Outcome Measures*
Psychometrics
Quality of Life*
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

Plastic Surgery Foundation