Survey of lipoedema symptoms and experience with compression garments
- Submitting institution
-
Heriot-Watt University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 31752538
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
-
10.12968/bjcn.2020.25.Sup4.S17
- Title of journal
- British Journal of Community Nursing
- Article number
- -
- First page
- S17
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- Sup4
- ISSN
- 1462-4753
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of publication
- April
- Year of publication
- 2020
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
https://doi.org/10.12968/bjcn.2020.25.Sup4.S17
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
1
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This co-authored output was published in Chronic Oedema (April 2020), a peer-reviewed quarterly supplement to the British Journal of Community Nursing with a global readership. Macintyre, a senior researcher, was the lead author of this output and principle investigator for the research project detailed in the paper.
The aims of this work were to establish the key lipoedema symptoms that a successful treatment could help overcome and properties of/problems with existing compression garments. Two UK lipoedema charities identified a problem with existing compression garments, which were proving to be ineffective and uncomfortable for users. This project was established in response to this identified need. The paper reports a questionnaire that was developed with Lipoedema UK’s Chair, a specialist nurse and the R&D lead from Jobskin, a compression garment manufacturer. The research team analysed and compared the 279 responses from people living with lipoedema in different categories. This provided a detailed data-set for this output and facilitated planning to design the world’s first compression devices designed specifically to address the particular needs of women with lipoedema. In March 2020, Macintyre was awarded funding (£124,000) by Medical Research Scotland supporting a four-year PhD study to pursue this co-design project with patients and partners from ‘Talk Lipoedema’, Jobskin and the ‘Scottish Lymphoedema Practitioners Network’.
This work builds on Macintyre’s 25 years of research in medical compression garments and an extensive search of relevant literature. The literature search confirmed the concerns of the lipoedema charities that until now compression therapy for lipoedema has been adopted from other medical conditions without due consideration or evidence for its efficacy. This paper reports primary quantitative and qualitative research undertaken to fill the gaps identified in the existing literature. Most of the research undertaken on lipoedema, to date, has been restricted to British and German medical journals.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
