Patient experiences of people with leg ulcers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sabrina Cipolletta; Guglielmo Amato

doi:10.12968/bjon.2023.32.12.S14

Patient experiences of people with leg ulcers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Br J Nurs. 2023 Jun 22;32(12):S14-S26. doi: 10.12968/bjon.2023.32.12.S14.

Authors

Sabrina Cipolletta¹, Guglielmo Amato²

Affiliations

¹ Professor, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy.
² Graduate student, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy.

PMID: 37344132
DOI: 10.12968/bjon.2023.32.12.S14

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the care of people with chronic leg ulcers (CLUs).

Aims: To understand how people with CLUs perceived illness, health care and the public health emergency during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Twenty people attending a wound care clinic in Northern Italy participated in semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis was conducted using the software Atlas.ti 9.

Findings: Results show that most of the participants evaluated their healthcare experience as positive but differed in their perceptions of the changes brought about by the pandemic according to their varied illness experiences and perceived social support. Participants were grouped in four trajectories that provided insight into the construction of personalised support strategies for people with CLUs.

Conclusion: These results may help inform healthcare interventions and policies in the care of long-term conditions such as CLUs during a widespread emergency in future.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Interview; Leg ulcers; Patient experience; Qualitative research.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Leg Ulcer* / epidemiology
Pandemics
Patient Outcome Assessment
Patients
Qualitative Research