title: The point prevalence of wounds in a teaching hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wounds are a common problem, particularly in the elderly population. The scale of wound problems in hospital is largely unknown because wounds are widely dispersed. The present study examined the point prevalence of hospital wounds and undertook a pressure ulcer risk assessment of all patients on one day.
  
  
  METHODS
  All 360 inpatients were surveyed and thoroughly examined. A risk scale for pressure sore development, the Norton score, was applied. When wounds were found, information was collected to determine their aetiology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty leg ulcers, 40 pressure sores, 85 surgical wounds and seven other types of wounds were found. Most leg ulcer and pressure sore cases were admitted for other reasons. The Norton score did not predict all cases of pressure ulceration. A total of 52% of wounds did not qualify for additional funding under current funding criteria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of non-surgical wounds in Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital was easily underestimated. Wound care management can be optimized by staff education and protocol design, early identification of troublesome wounds and of at-risk patients, and a cross-sectional approach that incorporates wound-management teams.
authors.affiliation: Wound Foundation of Australia, Austin, Australia.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Gruen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: MacLellan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D015995:Prevalence; D013997:Time Factors; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy