Newly Developed REACH Score Identifies Burden for Employed Patients with Chronic Wounds

Newly Developed REACH Score Identifies Burden for Employed Patients with Chronic Wounds

Summary: Dermatology Times reports on a pilot study (51 adults <65 years) developing the 17-item REACH Score to quantify occupational burden from chronic wounds, showing moderate impairment and strong links between time-consuming care tasks and work impact.

Key Highlights:

  • ~70% of participants had taken sick leave due to their wounds; many reduced working hours.
  • Average 5.3 hours/week spent on wound-related tasks; dressing changes were the biggest time sink (~2.7 h/week).
  • REACH correlated with Wound-QoL; higher scores tracked with greater time burden and sick leave.

Read the coverage at Dermatology Times

Keywords:
chronic wounds,
work productivity,
REACH Score,
quality of life,
occupational health