Abstract

Clinicians are interested in options for delivering community-based wound care. Studies have largely focused on nurse clinics as an alternative to people receiving wound care at home. A prospective, two-arm, cohort study of individuals who requested and received their preference for community-based leg ulcer care delivered in either their home or in a nurse-led clinic was conducted to explore the relationship between choice of care location and health outcomes. Provision of care was similar-ie, care was guided by an evidence-informed protocol and a trained nursing team. Individual and system level outcomes were compared between the groups, including 3-month healing rates, 1-year ulcer recurrence rate, time free of ulcers, health-related quality of life (HRQL), satisfaction with care, and resource use. Following the baseline assessment, data were collected every 3 months until healing occurred plus a 1-year follow-up to monitor recurrence. Of the 104 participants (average age 67.5 years), 56 chose home and 48 chose clinic-based care. More than half (55%) of the participants were men, 53.8% had an ulcer <5 cm(2) and <6 months' duration, 84% were English-speaking, and 51.9% had a previous episode of ulceration. No significant sociodemographic, HRQL, or clinical characteristic differences were found between groups at baseline. A trend toward improved healing for those choosing clinic care was observed (3-month healing rates at home were 48.1% versus clinic care 66.7%, P = 0.07) but neither healing outcome nor other variables, including resource utilization, were significantly different and post-hoc analysis revealed only 48% power to detect a difference in healing. The results confirm previous research indicating that the organization rather than the location of care is most important; however, observed differences in healing rates pose an important question for future inquiry regarding the potential impact of choice and whether the quality of care is standardized and delivered by the same team. The concept of providing individuals/families with the choice of care location warrants further research.