Barriers and facilitators to compression use in venous ulceration
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring barriers and facilitators to compression therapy for people with venous leg ulcers
IRAS ID
261452
Contact name
Jo Dumville
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Manchester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
Venous leg ulcers are open wounds on the lower leg which can be very painful and unpleasant. They usually take months to heal and some do not heal at all. Once healed, venous ulcers usually recur.
Use of tight bandages or stockings (“compression”) is the best, evidence-based treatment for people with venous ulcers. Unfortunately, compression can be difficult for patients to use because it can be uncomfortable. Compression can be bulky, unattractive and prevent people wearing their normal shoes.
Many people who could benefit from compression are not wearing it and we would like to understand this in more detail so that we can effectively promote compression use which would lead to more healed ulcers and patient benefit.
Using a survey and research interviews we will ask patients what they think about their compression treatment and explore their perspectives on what might help them wear compression or wear stronger compression. We will also interview nurses involved in the care of people with leg ulcers to find out why patients often do not get compression therapy and what might be done to improve this (such as education or equipment).
We will use this information to help us design ways to support compression delivery in the NHS in the short, medium and long-term.
This study is sponsored by The University of Manchester and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) scheme and we will be recruiting participants from Greater Manchester and East Lancashire.
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0826
Date of REC Opinion
28 May 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion