Investigating quality of life instrument measurement properties for adults with active venous leg ulcers: A systematic review

Abstract

The primary objective of this systematic review was to identify which quality of life instruments have been applied in published studies of patients with active venous leg ulcers. Our secondary objective was to map the measurement properties of each identified quality of life instrument and to inform future recommendations for clinical practice and research. We searched CINAHL, Ovid Medline, Ovid Emcare and ProQuest to identify studies published from 1 January 2000 to 31 July 2021. Eleven studies that utilised quality of life instruments in adults with active venous leg ulcers met the inclusion criteria. Thirteen quality of life instruments were identified as some studies utilised both generic and condition-specific quality of life instruments. Six out of nine (6/9) instruments were rated ‘very good’ of methodological quality on internal consistency; 1/7 studies rated ‘adequate’ on reliability; 2/4 rated ‘adequate’ on content validity; 3/6 studies rated ‘adequate’ on structural validity; 5/6 rated ‘adequate’ on hypotheses testing for construct and 2/6 studies rated ‘adequate’ on responsiveness. There is limited evidence of measurement properties of quality of life instruments for people with active venous leg ulcers. The Venous Leg Ulcer Quality of Life Questionnaire (VLU-QoL) could be provisionally recommended for use although from our review it is clear further studies to assess VLU-QoL measurement properties are needed to inform future recommendations for clinical practice and research.