Abstract

PERALTA VARGAS, Carmen Eliana; VARELA PINEDO, Luis Fernando  and  GALVEZ CANO, Miguel. Frequency of pressure ulcers and its related factors in elderly patients admitted to the Medicine wards at a general hospital. Rev Med Hered [online]. 2009, vol.20, n.1, pp.16-21. ISSN 1018-130X.

Objective: To assess the frequency of pressure ulcers and its related factors in elderly patients admitted to the Medicine wards at a national hospital. Material and methods: Prospective and observational study. We evaluated patients older than 60 years of age who were admitted to Medical wards of the Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia between December 2006 and April 2007. We assess clinical and demographic variables and geriatrics syndromes in two groups of elderly patients according with the presence of pressure ulcers or not. We performed chi-square and multivariate analyses for detecting statistic association. Results: We studied 463 elderly patients, and the frequency of pressure ulcers was 11.4%. The following variables were associated with pressure ulcers: patients older than 70 years old, partial or total dependency, moderate and severe cognitive dysfunction, urine incontinence, malnutrition, moderate risk and higher risk according Norton scale, pneumonia and stroke as entry diagnosis, use of bladder catheter, physical restraints, use of pressure-reducing cushions and heel protectors, caregiver support and the presence of in-hospital pneumonia. In the multivariable analyses, only malnutrition (OR= 6.87; IC 95%, 1.38-34.06, p=0.01) and physical restraints (OR=8.09; IC 95%, 2.47-26.41, p=0.001) were significant associated factors. Conclusions: Pressure ulcers are frequent in hospitalized elderly patients. The associated factors for pressure ulcers were malnutrition and physical restraints.(Rev Med Hered 2009;20:16-21).

Keywords : Pressure ulcers; associated factors; elderly.

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