Risk factors for pressure ulcers among elderly hip fracture patients.
The purpose of this study was to estimate the incidence of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers among elderly patients hospitalized for hip fracture surgery and to identify extrinsic factors that are associated with increased risk. We conducted a secondary analysis of data abstracted from medical records at 20 hospitals in Pennsylvania, Texas, New Jersey, and Virginia. Participants were patients aged 60 years and older admitted with hip fracture to the study hospitals between 1983 and 1993. The incidence of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers was 8.8% (95% confidence interval 8.2%-9.4%). After adjusting for confounding variables, longer wait before surgery, intensive care unit stay, longer surgical procedure, and general anesthesia were significantly associated with higher pressure ulcer risk. Extrinsic factors may be important markers for high pressure ulcer risk in hospitalized hip fracture patients. Although it is not possible to eliminate factors such as requiring an intensive care unit stay or having a long surgical procedure, it may be possible to develop interventions that minimize pressure ulcer risk in patients who experience these factors.
Baumgarten
Mona
M
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. mbaumgar@epi.umaryland.edu
Margolis
David
D
Berlin
Jesse A
JA
Strom
Brian L
BL
Garino
Jonathan
J
Kagan
Sarah H
SH
Kavesh
William
W
Carson
Jeffrey L
JL
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000150:complications*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors