Incidence of Pressure Sores in Geriatric Long-term Hospital Care

Abstract

Objective . To measure the prevalence and incidence of pressure sores in patients resident in hospital, geriatric, long-term care. Design . Prospective, weekly recording of site and severity of new and existing pressure sores in a cohort of patients during a six month period. Subjects . All patients (n = 201) resident in ten long-stay geriatric wards on the first day of the study. Main outcome measures . Prevalence of sores by week and incidence of new sores by month. Results . There were 56 males (mean age 78 years: range 67 – 93) and 145 females (mean age 85 years: range 67 – 98). Follow-up was completed in 159 patients. 36 patients died and 6 were discharged to residential care. The prevalence of pressure sores averaged 13.5% and the monthly incidence of new sores of all grades ranged from 4% to 8.5%. There was no difference in the incidence rates between males and females. 15 % of the cohort who had a sore at the start contributed to one third of the deaths (Fisher exact test P < 0.001). Conclusion . These results compare favourably with reports of pressure sore incidence among elderly patients in more acute hospital settings. Comparison with pressure sore incidence in the U.K. nursing home population would be interesting.