• Georgia Tsaousi, George Stavrou, Aristidis Ioannidis, Spyros Salonikidis, and Katerina Kotzampassi.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit, AHEPA University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
• Med Princ Pract. 2015 Jan 1; 24 (1): 111611-6.

ObjectiveWe aimed to ascertain the factors potentially contributing to the manifestation of pressure ulcers (PU) due to poor nutritional status in a nonselected hospitalized population.Subjects And MethodsThis is a prospective cohort study of 471 adult inpatients treated at our university hospital. Study parameters included anthropometric data, demographics, medical history, mood status, diet-related factors and self-perception of health status. For each participant, the body mass index (BMI) was calculated, and a malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST) was used to screen for nutritional deficiencies, with the presence of PU constituting the outcome of interest. An independent-samples t test, χ(2) analysis and logistic regression analysis were performed.ResultsThe overall prevalence of PU in our cohort was 14.2%. Advanced age, low BMI, poor health status by self-assessment, serious mood disorders, malnutrition, abnormal appetite status, a quantity of food intake half of normal, an artificial diet, limited or no autonomy in everyday activities (p < 0.01 for all) and recent weight loss (p < 0.05) were identified as important determinants for the manifestation of PU. Multivariate analysis highlighted limited autonomy in everyday activities (OR 6.456 and 95% CI 3.212-12.973; p = 0.000), MUST score (OR 3.825 and 95% CI 1.730-8.455; p = 0.001) and artificial diet (OR 1.869 and 95% CI 1.247-2.802; p = 0.018) as the most powerful predictors of PU development.ConclusionPoor nutritional status, limited autonomy in everyday activities and artificial nutrition seemed to confer noteworthy prognostic value regarding PU development in the acute-care setting.© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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