Abstract
Background:Pressure ulcers increase hospital stays and treatment costs due to their complications. Therefore, recognizing factors that contribute to pressure ulcer risk are important to patient safety.Objective:To evaluate the association between the scores of the Waterlow, Braden, and Norton scales and clinical and social characteristics in critically ill patients.Method:A cross-sectional study of 78 patients in an adult intensive care unit of a university hospital in Northeastern Brazil was conducted from July to December 2015. Data included social and clinical information and the risk factors of the Braden, Norton and Waterlow scales. Data were analysed by the descriptive and inferential statistics.Results:Most of the participants were female, adults and elderly people with brown skin colour, low education levels and insufficient income. Most of them showed a high risk for developing pressure ulcers using the three evaluated scales. Age, smoking status, diabetes and hypertension were associated with scores on the Waterlow, Braden and Norton scales.Conclusion: Age, use of the tobacco, diabetes and hypertension were associated with the risk of pressure ulcers in ICU patients.
Highlights
The intensive care unit (ICU) is intended for clinically unstable patients who need intermittent care and technology to evaluate and control their vital functions [1]
Pressure ulcers (PUs) are complications that can worsen the clinical conditions of severely ill patients
The parameters used in the calculation of the sample were as follows: n being the sample size, Z being the confidence level of the study (Z∞ = 1.96), E as the sample error (E = 10%), N as the population size (N = 883), P as the prevalence of pressure ulcers in patients in the intensive care unit (P = 57.89%), and Q being the complement of the prevalence (100 - P)
Summary
The intensive care unit (ICU) is intended for clinically unstable patients who need intermittent care and technology to evaluate and control their vital functions [1]. In this unit, pressure ulcers have an incidence of 23.1% [2]. Pressure ulcers (PUs) are injuries that originate in the epithelial tissue and may reach lower layers, such as vessels, 1874-4346/17 2017 Bentham Open. PUs are complications that can worsen the clinical conditions of severely ill patients. PUs increase the period of hospitalization and the costs of treatment due to the resulting complications [6]. Pressure ulcers increase hospital stays and treatment costs due to their complications. Recognizing factors that contribute to pressure ulcer risk are important to patient safety
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