Analysis of the predictive ability of Norton scale for pressure ulcer in patients with neurological diseases

Abstract

Objective To analyze the predictive ability of single assessment by Norton scale in neurological diseases patients.Methods Totals of 82 cases of neurological diseases were selected,which were divided into pressure ulcer group and non-pressure ulcer group.The parameter and total score of Norton scale were analyzed by t-test.Logistic regression analysis was used for Norton score and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was performed.The sensitivity,specificity and Youden' s index of different cutoff points were calculated.Results The total score in the pressure ulcer group was lower than that of non-pressure ulcer group [(17.11 ± 4.71) vs (24.33 ± 4.16)],and there was significant difference (t =7.13,P ＜0.01).Among the nine parameters,the age,skin status and body status were of no difference statistically between two groups,while the other six parameters in pressure group was significantly lower than those of nonpressure ulcer group (t =6.35,7.3,6.58,7.85,4.33,5.49 ;P ＜ 0.01).Logistic analysis revealed that Norton score had predictive value,the odd ratio of which was 0.713 (z =-4.6,P ＜ 0.01).The area of the ROC curve was 0.87,the 95％ confidence interval of which was 0.784-0.944.Conclusions Single assessment of Norton scale has certain predictive ability of pressure ulcer for the patients with neurological diseases. Key words: Pressure ulcer; Nursing; Norton scale ; Predict