Pain is a serious problem for patients with leg ulcers. Research mainly focuses on dressing‐related pain; however, chronic background pain may be just as devastating. Our main objective was to describe the prevalence and characteristics of wound‐related background pain in persons with chronic venous leg ulcers. We performed a systematic review to synthesise data from quantitative studies. Studies were eligible if they reported original baseline‐ or cross‐sectional data on background pain in chronic venous leg ulcers. The initial search identified 2454 publications. We included 36 descriptive and effect studies. The pooled prevalence of wound‐related background pain (from 10 studies) was 80% (95% CI 65‐92%). The mean pain intensity score (from 27 studies) was 4 (0‐10 numeric rating scale) (95% CI 3.4‐4.5). Other pain characteristics could not be synthesised. We identified few sufficiently high‐quality studies on prevalence and intensity of wound‐related background pain in patients with chronic venous leg ulcers. Four of five persons experience mild to moderate pain. Because of poor quality of pain assessment and report, we believe that the available research does not provide a sufficiently nuanced understanding of background pain in this patient group.

Aims and Objectives The aims of this study were to explore the prevalence of background pain and identify demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors associated with moderate to severe background pain in persons with leg ulcers. Background All chronic leg ulcers are potentially painful. Research indicates that 80% of persons with chronic leg ulcers experience wound‐related background pain. However, studies on factors associated with pain have small samples and findings are inconclusive. Design Exploratory cross‐sectional study. Method This quantitative study recruited persons with chronic leg ulcers (N = 252) from two wound care clinics using consecutive sampling method. Data were obtained through screening interview, clinical examination and questionnaires. Logistic regression with stepwise backwards elimination was used to identify factors associated with moderate to severe background pain. The STROBE checklist for cross‐sectional studies was used for reporting this study. Results Background pain was reported by 64% of the participants. Inferential statistical analyses suggest that between 58% and 69% of persons with chronic leg ulcers suffer from this type of pain. Factors associated with moderate to severe pain were older age, female gender, reduced sleep quality and diminished health status. In the final model, reduced sleep quality increased the likelihood of having moderate to severe pain in persons with good health status while not in persons with diminished health status. Conclusion Ulcer‐related background pain is common in persons with chronic leg ulcers. Older females reporting insomnia symptoms also had increased risk of moderate to severe ulcer‐related background pain. These participants also perceived their health status to be better. Relevance to clinical practice This study demonstrates that ulcer‐related background pain and associated factors needs more attention in clinical practice. Furthermore, nurses and other healthcare professionals should integrate biopsychosocial strategies to assess and manage ulcer‐related background pain.

The Norwegian versions of CPAQ-20 and CPAQ-8 are reliable assessment tools with good construct validity for measurement of acceptance. Future studies should validate the scales in other Norwegian samples. Implication for Rehabilitation CPAQ-20 and CPAQ-8 are valid Norwegian instruments for measuring acceptance of pain. Acceptance of pain is an important process in the rehabilitation of persons with chronic widespread pain. Treatment models supporting acceptance can now be developed and measured further in Norway.

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This exploratory descriptive study aimed to describe characteristics and management of background pain related to chronic leg ulcers. A total of 121 participants were recruited from two wound care clinics using a consecutive sampling method. Data were obtained through screening interview, clinical examination, and questionnaires. The mean average background pain intensity was 4.5 (SD 2.56) (CI 95% 4.0-5.0). Pain interfered mostly with general activity (mean 4.3), sleep (mean 4.1), and walking ability (mean 4.0) (0-10 NRS). The most frequently reported descriptors of background pain were 'tender', 'stabbing', 'aching', and 'hot-burning'. Most of the participants stated that the pain was intermittent. Less than 60% had analgesics prescribed specifically for ulcer related pain, and the respondents reported that pain management provided a mean pain relief of 45.9% (SD 33.9, range 0-100). The findings indicate that ulcer related background pain is a significant problem that interferes with daily function, and that pain management in wound care is still inadequate. K E Y W O R D Schronic leg ulcers, holistic wound care, pain, pain characteristics, pain management Key Messages• a thorough pain assessment procedure is the cornerstone of successful pain management in persons with CLUs • this cross-sectional explorative study aimed to describe characteristics and management of ulcer related pain in 121 persons with chronic leg ulcers • ulcer related background pain is a significant problem, and the participants report moderate pain intensity, which interferes with general activity, sleep, and walking ability • pain management seems to be inadequate, with less than 60% of the participants receiving analgesics for their ulcer related background pain