Pressure ulcer prevention and treatment interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundThe high burden of pressure ulcers (PUs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), coupled with the limited resources, underscores the need for preventive and context-specific treatment strategies. PurposeTherefore, the purpose of this systematic review was to establish and elucidate PU prevention and treatment interventions tested in SSA. MethodsThis systematic review of the literature used, PRISMA to guide the search. FindingsThe review identified nine studies on PU prevention (three) and treatment (six). Low-cost interventions assembled from locally available materials and multifaceted policies significantly prevented and treated PUs. The interventions included wound dressing agents, simple negative pressure suction devices that significantly treated PUs, and water-based bed surfaces. DiscussionThere were gaps in the interventions that have been proven successful in other global settings. ConclusionIn SSA, there is a need for nurses to tailor, test, and disseminate findings from evidence-based projects for PU prevention that have been successful in similar settings.