TITLE:
Clinical Evidence to Prevent Pressure Ulcer at High Risk Patients: Systematic Review
AUTHORS:
Tahany Al-Niarat, Jafar Alasad Alshraideh
KEYWORDS:
Pressure Ulcer, Prevention, Dressing, Topical Agent
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.9 No.7,
July
26,
2019
ABSTRACT: Background: Pressure ulcer (PU) has clinical complications for patients, in addition to cost and quality related consequences for healthcare organizations. PU is defined as a pressure injury is localized damage to the skin and underlying soft tissue usually over a bony prominence or related to a medical or other devices. The estimated prevalence of PUs among 918,621 patients declined from 13.5% in 2006 to 9.3% in 2015. Aim: The objective of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of dressing and topical agent to prevent pressure ulcer, for hospitalized adults are at risk to develop a pressure ulcer. Methods: The review considered the randomized clinical trial (RCT), quasi pretest-posttest, and descriptive studies published in English. Participants in the studies were adult, aged over 18 years, considered to be a risk to develop PU, have no PU at the onset of the study, and managed at any healthcare setting. The primary outcome measured in the included studies was considered as the incidence of hospital acquired pressure ulcer (HAPU). Results: The review result out of five RCT and three non-RCT studies. Conclusion: The reviewed trials showed low certainty of imprecision. No definite preventive intervention to prevent PU among patients who at risk to develop PU. And the non-RCT studies, the findings indicate significant results of two studies, but due to the methodological context of non-RCT studies, the findings may not be granted to be generalized. The external factors at each study may affect the effectiveness of the intervention. Also, third study showed no significance of the intervention between groups.