Martinengo L, Olsson M, Bajpai R, Soljak M, Upton Z, Schmidtchen A, Car J, Järbrink K, et al.
Annals of epidemiology. Date of publication 2019 Jan 1;volume 29():8-15.
1. Ann Epidemiol. 2019 Jan;29:8-15. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2018.10.005. Epub 2018
Nov 12.
Prevalence of chronic wounds in the general population: systematic review and
meta-analysis of observational studies.
Martinengo L(1), Olsson M(1), Bajpai R(1), Soljak M(1), Upton Z(2), Schmidtchen
A(3), Car J(4), Järbrink K(1).
Author information:
(1)Centre for Population Health Sciences (CePHaS), Lee Kong Chian School of
Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
(2)Institute of Medical Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research
(A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore; Dermatology, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
(3)Dermatology, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore, Singapore; Division of Dermatology, Department of Clinical
Sciences, Biomedical Center B14, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Copenhagen Wound
Healing Center, Bispebjerg Hospital, Department of Biomedical Sciences,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
(4)Centre for Population Health Sciences (CePHaS), Lee Kong Chian School of
Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore; Global eHealth
Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health,
Imperial College London, London, UK. Electronic address: josip.car@ntu.edu.sg.
PURPOSE: Chronic wounds are a major public health challenge, but little is known
about the true burden with studies reporting different estimates because of
disparities in study designs and measurement methods. This hampers efficient
resource allocation, planning, and improvement of wound care.
METHODS: Our study aimed to pool prevalence estimates from a global perspective
by systematically carrying out searches in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL,
Global Health, and PsycINFO databases for articles reporting the prevalence of
chronic wounds in adults, from January 2000 to June 2018. The included
publications had to define wound chronicity by duration (≥3 weeks), and/or
labeling the wounds as chronic, complex, or hard-to-heal.
RESULTS: Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria, and 11 studies analyzing
chronic wounds in the general population were included in random effects
meta-analyses to calculate pooled prevalence. Chronic wounds of mixed etiologies
(n = 3) showed a pooled prevalence of 2.21 per 1000 population, and for chronic
leg ulcers (n = 9), the prevalence was estimated at 1.51 per 1000 population.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, aligned to previous studies reporting point prevalence
of chronic wounds identified within the healthcare system, showed that the vast
majority of chronic wounds in epidemiological studies are made up by chronic leg
ulcers.
Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2018.10.005
PMID: 30497932 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
