Journal of wound, ostomy, and continence nursing : official publication of The Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society
-
J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs · Sep 2002
Risk factors associated with pressure ulcer development at a major western Australian teaching hospital from 1998 to 2000: secondary data analysis.
The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with the presence of pressure ulcer development in adult patients at an acute care teaching hospital. ⋯ Pressure ulcer prevalence in this acute care setting is high when compared with other Australian data. However, comparisons of pressure ulcer prevalence across studies are difficult to interpret because of different reporting methods. Although predictor variables for pressure ulcers have been identified in a number of studies, longitudinal studies are needed to identify the cause-and-effect relationships for potential predictor variables. In addition, more sophisticated statistical analyses such as the use of the odds ratio matrix may help guide further research into interaction effects between predictor variables and how these might affect the psychometric properties of risk assessment tools such as the Braden Scale. Pressure ulcer interventions should be targeted at the sacrum and heel, because these appear to be the most frequently observed locations for pressure ulcers.