Prevalence of Pressure Ulcer in Orthopaedic Bedridden Patients With a Higher Braden Pressure Ulcer Score in a Tertiary Care Government Hospital in Jammu

Abstract

In this research, our primary objective was to determine the prevalence of pressure ulcers (PU) in bedridden patients with risk of higher Braden Pressure Ulcer scores who were admitted to the orthopaedic wards at the tertiary care government hospital in Jammu. Methodology To achieve this, we conducted a cross-sectional point prevalence study utilising the Braden Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Scale and the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) grading scale and data form. Our research sample consisted of 180 bedridden patients with higher Braden scores admitted to the orthopaedic ward of the selected facility. We monitored these patients using an observational checklist based on the established EPUAP minimal dataset form and grading scale. We conveniently selected patients who had moderate to severe Braden Pressure Ulcer Risk scores. Result Our findings revealed that 22.8% of the bedridden patients with moderate to high-risk Braden pressure ulcer scores developed pressure ulcers. Among the respondents, the majority (67.78%) were categorised as high risk, followed by severe risk (18.89%) and moderate risk (13.33%). Of those who developed pressure ulcers, 28 had Grade 1 ulcers and 12 had Grade 2 ulcers. The most common locations for these ulcers were the sacrum (40%), followed by the iliac region (35%), and the buttocks (25%). We did not observe any significant association between clinical variables and the incidence of pressure ulcers, except for skin turgor.