Heel Pressure Ulcer Study v2.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Heel Pressure Ulcers Study: Contributory factors and their impact on quality of life.
IRAS ID
240842
Contact name
Alisen Dube
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Birmingham City University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 28 days
Research summary
The number of people affected by pressure ulcers in general has remained constant over the last few years suggesting that current prevention therapies may not be sufficient to reduce these numbers further. Heel pressure ulcers remain the second most common type, also suggesting that there might be other factors that are yet to be fully examined in order that they can be targeted by prevention therapies or educational programmes.
Previous research studies have identified various factors that are related to heel pressure ulcer development, however they have not always been consistent mainly because the number of participants included in these studies have been small, they have also studied specific populations and the study design and analysis have not always taken into account other possible factors that could affect the outcome. There is evidence to suggest that individuals living with cognitive impairment maybe at a higher risk of developing heel pressure ulcers and that they may also experience different health outcomes. Individuals living with some kind of cognitive impairment represent a large portion of those affected by heel pressure ulcers it is therefore important to include them in this research study to ensure the study results are beneficial to this group of patients.
This research study will take place in a large acute teaching hospital; all potential patients will be approached to take part in the study. It aims to recruit 200 participants with heel pressure ulcers and 200 participants without heel pressure ulcers and both groups of participants will be followed up for 6 months. This follow-up period will allow further data to be collected to explore how the identified risk factors affect the healing progress of heel pressure ulcers. Also rigorous statistical tests will be used to evaluate any differences identified between participants with heel pressure ulcers and those without.REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0135
Date of REC Opinion
3 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion