Chronic Wound Repair and Healing in Older Adults: Current Status and Future Research

• Published in: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Vol. 63; no. 3; pp. 427 - 438
• Main Authors: Gould, Lisa, Abadir, Peter, Brem, Harold, Carter, Marissa, Conner-Kerr, Teresa, Davidson, Jeff, DiPietro, Luisa, Falanga, Vincent, Fife, Caroline, Gardner, Sue, Grice, Elizabeth, Harmon, John, Hazzard, William R., High, Kevin P., Houghton, Pamela, Jacobson, Nasreen, Kirsner, Robert S., Kovacs, Elizabeth J., Margolis, David, McFarland Horne, Frances, Reed, May J., Sullivan, Dennis H., Thom, Stephen, Tomic-Canic, Marjana, Walston, Jeremy, Whitney, Jo Anne, Williams, John, Zieman, Susan, Schmader, Kenneth
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-03-2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Age; Aged; Biomedical Research - trends; Chronic Disease; chronic wound; diabetic foot ulcer; Forecasting; Humans; Medical research; Older people; pressure ulcer; Skin Ulcer - therapy; Surveys and Questionnaires; venous leg ulcer; Wound Healing; wound repair; United States > US; wound healing; diabetic foot ulcer; wound repair; chronic wound; pressure ulcer; venous leg ulcer
• ISSN: 0002-8614; 1532-5415
• DOI: 10.1111/jgs.13332

Older adults are more likely to have chronic wounds than younger people, and the effect of chronic wounds on quality of life is particularly profound in this population. Wound healing slows with age, but the basic biology underlying chronic wounds and the influence of age‐associated changes on wound healing are poorly understood. Most studies have used in vitro approaches and various animal models, but observed changes translate poorly to human healing conditions. The effect of age and accompanying multimorbidity on the effectiveness of existing and emerging treatment approaches for chronic wounds is also unknown, and older adults tend to be excluded from randomized clinical trials. Poorly defined outcomes and variables; lack of standardization in data collection; and variations in the definition, measurement, and treatment of wounds also hamper clinical studies. The Association of Specialty Professors, in conjunction with the National Institute on Aging and the Wound Healing Society, held a workshop, summarized in this article, to explore the current state of knowledge and research challenges, engage investigators across disciplines, and identify research questions to guide future study of age‐associated changes in chronic wound healing.