[Prevalence of ulcus cruris in home care nursing. An epidemiological study in North Rhine-Westphalia].

The aim of this study was to provide reliable data on prevalence of leg ulcers in home-care setting. A descriptive explorative cross-sectional design was used. In March 2000, a randomised sample of 520 community home nursing services in North-Rhine Westphalia was sent a standardised questionnaire. Apart from questions about the type of service provider and its geographical population, demographic patient data and information about duration and cause of ulcer was collected. The findings based on the data gathered from 161 nursing home-care services caring for a total 12,156 patients. The overall prevalence was 2.68% (+/- 0.29%) for leg ulcers in home-care setting. The median age of the 326 affected patients was 77.5 years. Women are more than twice as often affected as men, which could be due to the longer life-expectancy for women. A major problem for home nursing services, however, is the large number of leg ulcers of unknown origin. This was the case in almost a quarter of the sample. Depending on the causal factors, compression therapy is of paramount importance and crucial to the successful outcome of the treatment of the leg ulcer. The markedly chronic nature of leg ulcers is again confirmed by this study. Currently, leg ulcers have an average duration of ten months. However, it is not unusual for affected patients to suffer for years or even decades. Almost 80% of patients had their ulcer dressed once a day by the nursing home-care service.