BACKGROUND We develop predictive models enabling clinicians to better understand and explore patient clinical data along with risk factors for pressure ulcers in intensive care unit patients from electronic health record data. Identifying accurate risk factors of pressure ulcers is essential to determining appropriate prevention strategies; in this work we examine medication, diagnosis, and tra...

BACKGROUND Pressure sores are common and affect 10-20% of all institutionalized patients. Health personnel should have sufficient knowledge of prevention, evaluation and treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS This article is based on a non-systematic search in Medline and EMBASE, and the authors' own clinical experience. RESULTS The causes of pressure sores are mechanical pressure, shear and frict...

OBJECTIVES To determine the efficacy of skin protection wheelchair seat cushions in preventing pressure ulcers in the elderly nursing home population. DESIGN Clinical trial with participants assigned at random to a skin protection or segmented foam cushion. Two hundred thirty-two participants were recruited between June 2004 and May 2008 and followed for 6 months or until pressure ulcer incid...

BACKGROUND Pressure ulcers (also known as bedsores, pressure sores, decubitus ulcers) are areas of localised damage to the skin and underlying tissue due to pressure, shear or friction. They are common in the elderly and immobile and costly in financial and human terms. Pressure-relieving beds, mattresses and seat cushions are widely used as aids to prevention in both institutional and non-inst...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether risk assessment scales can be used to identify patients who are likely to get pressure ulcers. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Two large hospitals in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS 1229 patients admitted to the surgical, internal, neurological, or geriatric wards between January 1999 and June 2000. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Occurrence of a pressure ulcer...

Because of the high cost of some wound management regimens, payors may require that moist wound therapies be used before other treatment approaches, such as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), are implemented but few studies have investigated the effect of delayed initiation of NPWT on patient outcomes. To examine the impact of early versus late initiation of NPWT on patient length of stay ...