title: Predictive validity of the Braden scale for pressure ulcer risk in critical care patients.
abstract: This methodological study aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the Braden scale in critical care patients. The study was conducted in four intensive care units of a general private hospital. After approval of the project by the Hospital Ethics Committee, during six months, adult patients admitted to ICUs with a Braden score <18 and without PU were assessed upon admission and at 48-hours intervals as long as the patient remained at risk or until the development of PU, patients' discharge, death or transfer from the ICU. The cut-off scores of the Braden scale in the first, second and third assessments were 12, 13 and 13, respectively. Sensitivity was 85.7%, 71.4% and 71.4% and specificity was 64.6%, 81.5% and 83.1%, respectively. Areas under the ROC curves revealed very good accuracy for the cut-off scores. The Braden cut-off score 13 in the third assessment showed the best predictive performance in critical care patients.
authors.affiliation: Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brazil. lfserpa@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Letícia Faria
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Serpa
authors.forename: Vera Lúcia Conceição de Gouveia
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Ticiane Carolina Gonçalves Faustino
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Campanili
authors.forename: Moelisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Queiroz
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity