Development, validity, reliability, and responsiveness of a new leg ulcer measurement tool.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and validate an assessment tool--the Leg Ulcer Measurement Tool (LUMT)--that would be able to detect changes in the appearance of lower extremity ulcers.

SUBJECTS: Twenty-two subjects with chronic leg ulcers of various etiologies (arterial, venous, diabetes) participated in the validation study.

DESIGN

An interdisciplinary panel consisting of 9 local wound care specialists confirmed content validity. Concurrent criterion validity was determined by correlation of the size domain (1 of 14 clinician-rated domains in the LUMT) with acetate tracing measurement of wound surface area. Reliability was determined using repeated assessments by 4 wound care specialist and 2 inexperienced evaluators; responsiveness was determined using monthly reassessments by a single rater for 4 months.

RESULTS

Concurrent criterion validity was r = 0.82. Excellent values of intrarater and interrater reliability (ICC > 0.75) were obtained for total LUMT scores and for many of the 14 individual domains; however, several domains were found to be less reproducible. The LUMT detected change in wound status over time (responsiveness coefficient = 0.84).

CONCLUSION

The LUMT can be used by 1 or more assessors, with relatively little previous training, to make reproducible evaluations of lower extremity ulcer appearance and to document change in appearance over time. The LUMT represents a novel assessment tool specifically designed and validated for clinical or research use on chronic leg ulcers.