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Cited by 114Diagnosis and Treatment of Venous DiseasesWound Healing and TreatmentsVenous Thromboembolism Diagnosis and Management

Interventions for helping people adhere to compression treatments for venous leg ulceration

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Weller, Carolina D, Buchbinder, Rachelle, Johnston, Renea V·2016·Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd008378.pub3PMC PMC6823259
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Chronic venous ulcer healing is a complex clinical problem that requires intervention from skilled, costly, multidisciplinary wound-care teams. Compression therapy has been shown to help heal venous ulcers and to reduce recurrence. It is not known which interventions help people adhere to compression treatments. This review is an update of a previous Cochrane review. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of interventions designed to help people adhere to venous leg ulcer compression therapy, to improve healing and prevent recurrence after healing. SEARCH METHODS: In June 2015, for this first update, we searched: The Cochrane Wounds Specialised Register; The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations); Ovid EMBASE and EBSCO CINAHL. We also searched trial registries, and reference lists of relevant publications for published and ongoing trials. There were no language or publication date restrictions. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions that aim to help people with venous leg ulcers adhere to compression treatments compared with usual care, or no intervention, or another active intervention. Our main outcomes were ulcer healing, ulcer recurrence, quality of life, pain, adherence to compression therapy and number of people with adverse events. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected studies for inclusion, extracted data, assessed the risk of bias of each included trial, and assessed overall quality of evidence for the main outcomes in 'Summary of findings' tables. MAIN RESULTS: One randomised controlled trial was added to this update making a total of three. One ongoing study was also identified.One trial (67 participants) compared a community-based Leg Club® that provided mechanisms for peer-support, assistance with goal setting and social interaction with home-based care. There was no clear difference in healing rates at three months (12/28 people healed in Leg Club group versus 7/28 in home-based care group; risk ratio (RR) 1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.79 to 3.71); or six months (15/33 healed in Leg Club group versus 10/34 in home-based care group; RR 1.55, 95% CI 0.81 to 2.93); or in quality of life outcomes at six months (MD 0.85 points, 95% CI -0.13 to 1.83; 0 to 10 point scale). The Leg Club may lead to a small reduction in pain at six months, that may not be clinically significant (MD -12.75 points, 95% CI -24.79, -0.71; 0 to 100 point scale, 15 point reduction is usually considered the minimal clinically important difference) (low quality evidence downgraded for risk of selection bias and imprecision).Another trial (184 participants) compared a community-based, nurse-led self-management programme of six months' duration promoting physical activity (walking and leg exercises) and adherence to compression therapy via counselling and behaviour modification (Lively Legs®) with usual care in a wound clinic. At 18 months follow-up, there were no clear differences in healing rates (51/92 healed in Lively Legs group versus 41/92 in usual care group; RR 1.24 (95% CI 0.93 to 1.67)); rates of recurrence of venous leg ulcers (32/69 with recurrence in Lively Legs group versus 38/67 in usual care group; RR 0.82 (95% CI 0.59 to 1.14)); or adherence to compression therapy (42/92 people fully adherent in Lively Legs group versus 41/92 in usual care group; RR 1.02 (95% CI 0.74 to 1.41)). The evidence from this trial was also downgraded to low quality due to risk of selection bias and imprecision.A single study compared patient education delivered via video with education delivered by text (pamphlet). However, no outcomes relevant to this review were reported.We found no studies that investigated other interventions to promote adherence to compression therapy. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: It is unclear whether interventions designed to help people adhere to compression therapy improve venous ulcer healing and reduce recurrence. There is a lack of trials of interventions that promote adherence to compression therapy for venous ulcers.

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  • There is a lack of research into how individuals cope with chronic venous insufficiency or resulting ulceration.

    “Despite strong evidence indicating the need for further investigation into the benefits of therapeutic patient education in this population there is a lack of research into how individuals cope with chronic venous insufficiency or resulting ulceration.”

    From Application and challenges of using a Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology to address an undertheorized clinical challenge: A discussion paper (2024) · cites this paper as Weller et al., 2016

    The Implications for research section (page unavailable) calls for better understanding of compression-treatment adherence and for trials to report participants’ reasons for non-adherence. That supports a narrower gap in patient-perspective research, but the review does not establish a general lack of research into how people cope with chronic venous insufficiency or ulceration. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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  • The benefits of nurse-led therapeutic patient education regarding wound healing and the prevention of recurrences for individuals living with a venous leg ulcer remain unclear.

    “The benefits of nurse-led therapeutic patient education regarding wound healing and the prevention of recurrences for individuals living with a venous leg ulcer remain unclear.”

    From Application and challenges of using a Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology to address an undertheorized clinical challenge: A discussion paper (2024) · cites this paper as Weller et al., 2016

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Lefebvre C, Manheimer E, Glanville J. Chapter 6: Searching for studies. In: Higgins JPT, Green S (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0 (updated March 2011). The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011. Available from www.cochrane-handbook.org.

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Authors
Weller, C. D., Buchbinder, R., & Johnston, R. V.
Affiliations
  • Monash University (AU)
  • Cabrini Hospital (AU)
ORCID
Venue
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2016-03-02
Volume
2016
Issue
3
Pages
CD008378-CD008378
ISSN
  • 1361-6137 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-1858
DOI
10.1002/14651858.cd008378.pub3
PMC
PMC6823259
OpenAlex
W2014812826
Cited by
114
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
FWCI
2.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Diagnosis and Treatment of Venous Diseases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Wound Healing and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Internal Medicine › Venous Thromboembolism Diagnosis and Management
Keywords
venous leg ulcers, compression therapy, medication adherence, ulcer healing, ulcer recurrence, peer support, home care, wound care, quality of life, pain, patient education, patient education videos, patient education leaflets
MeSH terms
Behavior Therapy, Chronic Disease, Counseling, Goals, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Patient Compliance, Recurrence, Self Care, Self-Help Groups, Varicose Ulcer, Wound Healing, Exercise, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Practice Patterns, Nurses', Compression Bandages

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