Pressure ulcer patients in long-term care. A follow-up study

Extract

Pressure ulcers (PU) may cause intolerable suffering to the patient. Not only do they affect patients but they also increase nursing workload. In Finnish studies, PU prevalence was 5.4–22% depending on the type of institution caring for the patient. The same level of prevalence is reported from other European countries. In 2000, it was reported that PUs, as the main diagnosis, were responsible for over 20000 bed days in Finnish long-term care hospitals, at a cost of approximately 3 million EUROs a year. In England, it was estimated that a 600-bed general hospital spends 600000 to 3 million GB£/year to care for PUs. Some US statistics estimate that nearly 2 million American patients acquire a PU during the course of their care, and the cost to treat one wound is from 2000 US$ to 70000 US$. Prevention is therefore not only beneficial for the patient but obviously cost-effective for the health care system.