Venous Leg Ulcers and Falls
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Falls Risk in Ambulant, Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Venous Leg Ulcers
IRAS ID
182308
Contact name
Catriona Riches
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham, Research Governance
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 2 days
Research summary
Many of the factors known to increase the risk of sustaining a fall, in adults over 60 years of age, are also known to be problems experienced by people who suffer with leg ulcers. For example: pain, limited mobility, ill-fitting footwear, balance problems or a fear of falling. Although these problems have been identified as some of those experienced by leg ulcer patients, they have not been considered in the context of falling within this patient group. It is not known whether these patients are at any more risk of falling than people in a similar age group without leg ulcers.
This pilot study aims to i) measure the balance and mobility in a group of people with leg ulcers and to compare the results with data previously published for community-dwelling adults over the age of 60, i)to see if there is a difference. ii) to measure their fear of falling and iii) to test whether these measures are suitable to use with leg ulcer patients, in a larger study.
It is recommended that people who fall, or who are at risk of falling should be offered assessment of balance and gait. If deficiencies are found they should also be offered an assessment of their risk of falling. If this pilot study shows that older adults with leg ulcers may be at more risk of falling than older adults without, this may be suggestive of the need for further work. In the future the inclusion of routine falls risk assessment into standard leg ulcer management may need to be considered.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0281
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion