The impact of providing product funding for compression bandaging and medical footwear on compression use, wound healing and quality of life

Abstract

A study conducted in an Australian home nursing service sought to ascertain whether the provision of funding for compression bandaging and medical footwear would impact on compression therapy use, wound healing and quality of life (QoL) among people with venous leg ulcers. Clients (n = 120) were randomly allocated to evaluation funded or not evaluation funded groups, the former provided funding for compression bandaging and medical footwear. Outcome measures included the number of wounds healed, healing rate, compression use and QoL. Analysis included ttests and Kaplan-Meier Survival Analysis. An alpha level of 0·05 classified findings as significant. There were no significant differences between groups for rate or time to healing, wounds healed or compression use. The evaluation funded group were significantly more likely to receive medical footwear. Those with confirmed diagnosis and who received multilayer bandaging, irrespective of group, achieved healing rates significantly higher than those who wore other compression therapy. Factors other than cost intervened with the capacity to evaluate the impact of wound product subsidisation. Further exploration of how to best promote evidence-based practice and future research to evaluate clinically and cost-effective wound treatments in a range of health care settings is required. © 2011 The Authors. International Wound Journal © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and Medicalhelplines.com Inc.