Aim. To identify the impact of pain on quality of life (QOL) of patients with chronic venous ulcers.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 40 outpatients with chronic venous ulcers who were recruited at one outpatient care center in São Paulo, Brazil. WHOQOL-Bref was used to assess QOL, the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (MPQ) to identify pain characteristics, and an 11-point numerical pain rating scale to measure pain intensity. Kruskall-Wallis or ANOVA test, with post-hoc correction (Tukey test) was applied to compare groups. Multiple linear regression models were used.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 67 ± 11 years (range, 39-95 years), and 26 (65%) were women. The prevalence of pain was 90%, with worst pain mean intensity of 6.2 ± 3.5. Severe pain was the most prevalent (21 patients, 52.5%). Pain most frequently reported was sensory-discriminative and evaluative in quality. Pain was significantly and negatively correlated with physical (PY), environmental (EV), and overall QOL. Compared to a no-pain group, those with pain had lower overall QOL. On multiple analyses, pain remained as a predictor of overall QOL (b = -0.73, P = 0.03) and was also predictive of social QOL, whereas pain did not have any impact on physical, emotional, or social relationships QOL (b = -3.85, P = 0.00) when adjusted for age, number, duration and frequency of wounds, pain dimension (MPQ), partnership, and economic status.
Conclusion: To improve QOL of outpatients with chronic venous ulcers, the qualities and the intensity of pain must be considered differently.