To describe the prevalence and incidence density of hospital-acquired unavoidable pressure sores among patients aged ≥65 years admitted to acute medical units. A secondary analysis of longitudinal study data collected in 2012 and 2013 from 12 acute medical units located in 12 Italian hospitals was performed. Unavoidable pressure ulcers were defined as those that occurred in haemodynamically unstable patients, suffering from cachexia and/or terminally ill and were acquired after hospital admission. Data at patient and at pressure ulcer levels were collected on a daily basis at the bedside by trained researchers. A total of 1464 patients out of 2080 eligible (70.4%) were included. Among these, 96 patients (6.5%) hospital-acquired a pressure ulcer and, among 19 (19.7%) were judged as unavoidable. The incidence of unavoidable pressure ulcer was 8.5/100 in hospital-patient days. No statistically significant differences at patient and pressure ulcers levels have emerged between those patients that acquired unavoidable and avoidable pressure sores. Although limited, evidence on unavoidable pressure ulcer is increasing. More research in the field is recommended to support clinicians, managers and policymakers in the several implications of unavoidable pressure ulcers both at the patient and at the system levels

Prevalence and incidence density of unavoidable pressure ulcers in elderly patients admitted to medical units

PALESE, Alvisa;
2017-01-01

Abstract

To describe the prevalence and incidence density of hospital-acquired unavoidable pressure sores among patients aged ≥65 years admitted to acute medical units. A secondary analysis of longitudinal study data collected in 2012 and 2013 from 12 acute medical units located in 12 Italian hospitals was performed. Unavoidable pressure ulcers were defined as those that occurred in haemodynamically unstable patients, suffering from cachexia and/or terminally ill and were acquired after hospital admission. Data at patient and at pressure ulcer levels were collected on a daily basis at the bedside by trained researchers. A total of 1464 patients out of 2080 eligible (70.4%) were included. Among these, 96 patients (6.5%) hospital-acquired a pressure ulcer and, among 19 (19.7%) were judged as unavoidable. The incidence of unavoidable pressure ulcer was 8.5/100 in hospital-patient days. No statistically significant differences at patient and pressure ulcers levels have emerged between those patients that acquired unavoidable and avoidable pressure sores. Although limited, evidence on unavoidable pressure ulcer is increasing. More research in the field is recommended to support clinicians, managers and policymakers in the several implications of unavoidable pressure ulcers both at the patient and at the system levels
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Palese et al 2017 tissue.pdf

non disponibili

Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: Non pubblico
Dimensione 158.6 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
158.6 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11390/1104852
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 17
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 16
social impact