Objectives:

To identify and describe the available evidence on lifestyle interventions designed to promote healing and prevention of the recurrence of venous ulcers.

Methods:

Scoping review guided by the methodological framework of Arksey and O’Malley for intervention studies published between 2008-2020 in English, Spanish and Portuguese in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL databases using the keywords: venous leg ulcer, lifestyle intervention, nutritional support, exercise, wound healing, recurrence.

Results:

Twenty studies were included in the synthesis. Most of the interventions focused on promoting exercise and analyzing its effects on the healing of venous ulcers. Only four intervention studies addressed the nutritional aspect of these patients and only three determined recurrences. The findings are limited due to the diversity in the design and execution of the available interventions in addition to the small sample sizes in the studies.

Conclusions:

The existing evidence suggests that interventions that promote physical activity and exercise could have a beneficial effect on the healing and prevention of recurrence of venous ulcers. However, a solid evidence base is lacking in lifestyle interventions for these patients. Current research provides some insights into the specific components that should be considered when planning such interventions in the future.

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