Pressure Ulcer Prevalence, Incidence, Risk, Clinical Features, and Outcomes Among Patients in a Turkish Hospital: A Cross-sectional, Retrospective Study.

Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a common problem with serious health care implications.

PURPOSE This study was conducted to assess PU prevalence, incidence, clinical features, nursing care measures, and patient variables and outcomes among inpatients admitted to 13 internal medicine departments at a university hospital in Turkey between 2010 and 2014.

METHODS Using a cross-sectional, retrospective design, records of all hospitalized patients were reviewed and records from patients with a PU abstracted. Patient demographics, diagnosis, Braden Scale score, and PU information were abstracted from patient files/electronic records. Data were collected to an electronic data collection form between January and December 2015 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-squared, one-way analysis of variance, and Student's t test.

RESULTS From a population of 20 175 patients, the records of 664 patients showed the presence of a PU; the total PU prevalence rate was 3.3% and the overall PU incidence rate for 5 years was 1.8%. Ulcers were most often Stage 1 (326. 49.1%), located at the sacrum (364, 54.8%), and hospital-acquired (370, 55.7%; 175 (56%) of PU patients were oncology patients, followed by dementia/Alzheimer's patients (31, 9.2%). A significant relationship between Braden scores and general diagnoses was found (P <.01).

CONCLUSION PU incidence was highest in patients with cancer and patients >65 years old, and patients with a diagnosis of dementia/Alzheimer's were at highest risk. Many patients outside of acute care settings have a PU. Risk assessments should be conducted and appropriate nursing interventions should be provided during facility admission and follow-up care. Prospective studies on the prevention of PU development in patients at risk are warranted.