[Quality of life in patients with leg ulcers in Portugal].

Objective: To evaluate health related quality of life (HRQoL) in a sample of patients suffering from chronic leg ulceration in Portugal.

Design: Questionnaire administered at baseline and following 12 weeks of treatment.

Setting: Community health clinics and out-patient departments of hospitals within the catchment area.

Participants: Patients suffering from chronic venous ulceration being cared for by community and hospital staff.

Methods: Patients entering the study were asked to complete the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) Euroqol and Visual Analogue (VA) pain questionnaires at entry and after 12 weeks. Principal analysis compared final scores with those found at baseline, and compared results with UK based data.

Results: In all, 98 patients entered the study and completed the initial questionnaire, with 68 (69.3%) patients completing the follow up questionnaire. There were significantly (p<0.001) higher scores for the Portuguese patients compared with Portuguese normative data for all domains of the NHP (all p<0.001). Improvements were noted for all scores after 24 weeks. After 12 weeks bodily pain showed a significant improvement (mean difference [d]=10.5, p=0.003), with significant improvement in Euroqol (d=0.10, p=0.027). Energy and social isolation improved substantially in the 8 (11.8%) who healed, though not statistically, but VA pain score did (d=4.85, p<0.001).

Conclusions: Patients suffering from leg ulceration show modest improvements in perceived health following 12 weeks of care. Improvements in practice may enhance the magnitude of these improvements.