Abstract

Concomitant with the rising prevalence of chronic wounds, it is imperative for patients to assess their own symptoms throughout the treatment process. Therefore, this study was undertaken to ascertain the symptom experiences of patients with chronic wounds. The present study was conducted descriptively with a cohort of 64 patients who were under observation in the chronic wound care unit of a training and research hospital. Data were collected using two instruments: the "Patient Characteristics Form" and the "Toronto Symptom Assessment System for Wounds (TSAS-W). Descriptive statistics, comparison analysis and hierarchical linear regression were used in the analysis. A statistically significant difference was identified between the mean TSAS-W scores according to wound localization and wound class (F=2.795, p=0.034; F=6.677, p=0.000). Furthermore, the mean total score on the TSAS-W for the patient population was 34.82±17.64. The explanatory power of wound characteristics (wound classification β=4.295; p=0.009; wound area β=0.217; p=0.014) for patients’ symptom experience was found to be 13.4% (R²=0.134; p=0.039). While the general symptom experiences of patients receiving chronic wound care were found to be low. Wound classification and wound area were significant factors that affected patients’ experience of symptoms.

Key words: Patient, symptom assessment, wounds