Preventing the occurrence of pressure ulceration in hospitalised elderly patients.
OBJECTIVE: To determine which factors contribute to the development of pressure ulcers and to evaluate the role of topical agents in preventing their occurrence. METHOD: An observational, prospective survey covered 36 care of the elderly wards and involved 1121 patients at high or very high risk of pressure ulceration. The patients, of whom 667 (59.6%) received a gentle application of a topical agent to at-risk areas, were followed up for eight weeks. RESULTS: Of the patients, 15.7% developed a pressure ulcer. The use of a corpitolinol 60-based topical agent (Sanyrène/Corpitol) significantly reduced the incidence of pelvic pressure ulcers (p=0.04) when used with recognised prevention strategies. This was identified by undertaking a logistic regression analysis. The resulting odds ratio of 0.61 indicates that the intervention helped to reduce the number of pressure ulcers by 40%. CONCLUSION: The results of this observational study can provide a useful guide to the design of further randomised controlled trials.