A review on the challenges of patients with chronic wounds

Introduction and Objective: Chronic wounds are those that do not progress through a normal, regular and timely healing. They are common and often mistreated. Management of patients with chronic wounds is a major part of the services that can be provided by health care providers, and any failure in this matter causes concern in this group. These patients themselves also face various challenges. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to review the challenges of patients with chronic wounds.Method: In this review study, a comprehensive review of texts in databases including; SID, Magiran, Iranmedex, CINAHL, ProQuest, Ovid, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, using the keywords: wound, chronic wound, challenge, ulcer and caring problems were carried out from ۵ September to ۶ October ۲۰۲۲. Inclusion criteria included: publication of the article between ۲۰۱۲ and ۲۰۲۲, research articles related to challenges of patients with chronic wounds, published in Persian and English, and access to the full text of the articles.Results: In the initial search of databases, ۲۳۱۹ studies were identified. After screening the titles and abstracts, ۸۲ full texts were reviewed, of which ۱۱ studies met the inclusion criteria. The need for accurate initial assessment and frequent follow-up assessments of the wound status, furthermore the slow healing process and the need for complex treatment regimens pose many challenges to patients with chronic wounds. After reviewing articles; pain, concern regarding the effectiveness of the treatment, concern regarding the occurrence of complications, the negative impact of the wound on the quality of life, lack of access to a doctor or specialist wound therapist, traveling long distances to the hospital or doctor visit, cost and also the waste of patients' time were identified as the major challenges of these patients.Conclusion: Due to the nature of chronic wounds, despite the progress made in this field, patients experience many challenges, and a large group of these challenges can be solved by providing remote care as a supplement. It is suggested that more studies be conducted in the field of its implementation and effectiveness.

کلیدواژه ها:

chronic wound ، wound patients ، challenge ، review