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Wounds research theme: epidemiology and natural history of wounds

Robust data on the epidemiology and natural history of any condition is important for those affected, as well as health professionals and the NHS generally.

Optimal management and delivery of care requires good intelligence of the size of populations and possible variations in these populations (for example, in outcomes). These data are also important for informing the choice and feasibility of future research.

Currently, routine data collection around the management of wounds and their outcomes is relatively limited. As part of a NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research (RP-PG-0407-10428 – Wound Research for Patient Benefit), we started to address these challenges. Working in partnership with Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, we conducted a prevalence study of complex wounds across all care settings in Leeds. We also explored the barriers and facilitators to implemented routine data collection within current IT systems.

As part of a second NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research (RP-PG-0609-10171 – Surgical Wounds Healing by Secondary Intention: Characterising and Quantifying the Problem and Identifying Effective Treatments), we are also current working with organisations in Leeds and Hull to follow-up a cohort of people with new surgical wounds healing by secondary intention to collect important treatment natural history and treatment data.