How and why patients self-treat chronic wounds

The aim of this study was to investigate how people self-treat chronic wounds, why they self-treat and the assistance and support that they receive. The increasing emphasis on self-management of chronic conditions, the potential benefits of self-treatment to the health care consumer and competing demands on health care funding are good reasons to investigate self-treatment of chronic wounds as we have little data on this group of individuals. A survey study was conducted in Australia. A non-random sample of 100 participants was recruited. Participants were aged 18 years or older and currently or previously had a chronic wound that they self-treated. All participants completed one survey. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics. The sample was, on average, 64·6 years of age; half was female (n = 50, 50%), and the majority had a lower leg wound (n = 80, 80·0%). The sample scored 33·9/40 on the Generalized Self-efficacy Scale and 68/100 on the Medical Outcomes Social Support Scale. The majority of the 89 participants who used a wound dressing used a product that targeted bacteria (n = 59, 66.3%). The two most commonly selected reasons for self-treating were 'to be independent' (n = 58, 58·0%) and 'to do the treatment at a time that suited' (n = 55, 56·0%). Less than one quarter of participants reported being supervised regularly during the wound episode (n = 22, 22%), and few (n = 6, 6·0%) reported having received education and training to support their self-treatment. Self-treaters of chronic wounds may benefit from standardised education and closer professional supervision to optimise self-treatment practices. Efforts to improve patient satisfaction with professional care are required to promote a shared-care model when self-treating and to optimise patient outcomes.