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Risk Factors for Pressure Ulcers in Elderly Hospital Patients
Author(s) -
Baumgarten Mona,
Margolis D.,
Lowe R.,
Localio R.,
Kagan S.,
Holmes J.,
Kavesh W.,
Kinosian B.,
Abbuhl S.,
Ruffin A.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
wound repair and regeneration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.847
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1524-475X
pISSN - 1067-1927
DOI - 10.1111/j.1067-1927.2004.0abstractdj.x
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , emergency medicine , cohort , risk factor , emergency department , surgery , physics , psychiatry , optics
Elderly hospital patients have ample exposure to situations and procedures that may increase their pressure ulcer risk. The aims of this study were to estimate the incidence of hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers in elderly medical patients and to determine whether the risk of pressure ulcers is associated with longer emergency department (ED) stays, lengthy procedures in the ED, or use of immobilizing restraints, medications, or devices in the ED. The study cohort was made up of 3,233 patients aged 65 or over admitted through the EDs of two Philadelphia hospitals. Sixty‐five percent of subjects were aged 80 or more, 61% were female, and 69% were Black. The incidence of hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers on Day 3 of the hospital stay, as ascertained by direct skin examination, was 6.2%. There were 266 hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers among 201 patients (mean per patient 1.3 pressure ulcers) 27% of the pressure ulcers were stage 1, 54% were stage 2, and the remainder were stages 3 or 4 or could not be staged. The median length of stay in the ED was 6.6 hours. The association between hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers and extrinsic risk factors will be presented. The identification of potentially modifiable risk factors may lead to the development of effective interventions to prevent hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers.