title: Pressure ulcer healing: what is it? What influences it? How is it measured?
abstract: Defining healing requires a set of measurements that quantify the physical factors that change during healing. Such a list of measures gives a de facto definition of what constitutes pressure ulcer healing and what influences it. This paper attempts to answer a more specific question: Which measurements are strong candidates for inclusion in a tool for monitoring pressure ulcer healing? Three sets of clinical measurements are analyzed--the assessment proposed by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Guideline Development Panel for the Treatment of Pressure Ulcers; the recommendations of the Wound Healing Society; and the Pressure Sore Status Tool. The validity of the 11 clinical measures common across these assessment methods is examined using empiric evidence from studies of wound healing.
authors.affiliation: Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., USA.
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Xakellis
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Frantz
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000451:nursing* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D016270:United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; D014945:Wound Healing