PhD Defence: Lena Leren - Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge

Lena Leren will be defending her thesis for the degree of philosophiae doctor (PhD).

02 Sep

Practical information

Date: 2 September 2022
10.00 - 15.30
Drammen, Auditorium 5508
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The trial lecture and PhD Defence is open to the public.

Participate via Zoom

Programme:

Kl. 10.00-11.00: Trial Lecture: "Appraise the biopsychosocial model of wound related pain. Discuss the application of person centered care model and patient experience outcomes in the management of chronic wound pain"
Kl. 12.00-15.30: PhD Defence

Assessment comittee:

First opponent: Professor Kevin Woo, Queen’s University, Canada
Second opponent: Professor Cecilia Fagerström, Linnaeus University, Sweden
Administrator: Professor Elisabeth Holm Hansen, USN

Veiledere:

Associate professor Tone Marte Ljoså, USN
Associate professor Edda Aslaug Johansen, USN
Professor Hilde Eide, USN

Lena Leren will defend her dissertation for the degree of philosophia doctor (PhD) in the program Person-centred Health Care.

Title of dissertation: Background pain - A descriptive study of ulcer-related pain characteristics and management.

Summery:

This dissertation shows that pain is prevalent in persons with chronic leg and foot ulcers, and that clinicians must assess and treat wound related pain that is not procedure related.

Chronic leg and foot ulcers are a common health problem, and the incidence will probably increase as the population ages. We already known from previous research that many people with chronic wounds experience pain, and that the pain largely reduces the quality of life of those affected. However, most available research is focused on procedure related pain. This thesis explores pain associated with chronic leg- and foot ulcers experienced in daily life, so-called background pain.

With a systematic review and a clinical descriptive study, we explored the prevalence of wound related background pain. We also investigated factors associated with moderate to strong background pain, wound pain characteristics, and the management of ulcer related pain.

Despite an increasing focus on pain in ulcer management over the past 20 years, this thesis demonstrates that background pain is a common and serious problem that affects the lives of those with chronic ulcers, and that the management of pain is not satisfactory. In the clinical descriptive study, more than 60% reported background pain associated with their ulcers. We also found that women, elderly persons, and those with poor sleep quality were at greater risk of having moderate to severe pain. The participants reported on average that the pain intensity was moderate, and that the pain affected daily functioning. Their analgesic treatment only partly relieved their ulcer related pain.

This thesis direct attention to ulcer related background pain, and highlight important aspects that both clinicians and researchers should continue to work on in the future in order to improve wound care.