Estimating costs of pressure area management based on a survey of ulcer care in one Irish hospital.
OBJECTIVE
Pressure ulceration remains a significant cause of morbidity for patients and has a real economic impact on the health sector. Studies to date have estimated the cost of management but have not always given a breakdown of how these figures were calculated. There are no published studies that have estimated the cost of management of pressure ulcers in Ireland. A two-part study was therefore undertaken. Part one determined the prevalence of pressure ulcers in a 626-bed Irish acute hospital. Part two set out to derive a best estimate of the cost of managing pressure ulcers in Ireland.


METHODS
The European Pressure UlcerAdvisory Panel (EPUAP) minimum data set tool was used to complete the prevalence survey. Tissue viability nurses trained in the data-collection tool collected the data. A cost was obtained for all items of care for the management of one patient with three grade IV pressure ulcers over a five-month period.


RESULTS
Of the patients, 2.5% had pressure ulcers. It cost Euros 119,000 to successfully treat one patient.


CONCLUSIONS
We estimate that it costs Euros 250,000,000 per annum to manage pressure ulcers across all care settings in Ireland.
Gethin
G
G
Clinical Nursing and Midwifery, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland. ggethin@eircom.net
Jordan-O'Brien
J
J
Moore
Z
Z
D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D015995:Prevalence