FOURTEENTH ANNUAL EUROPEAN PRESSURE ULCER ...

Thursday September 1st
Introduction
Proceedings of the 14th Annual European Pressure Ulcer Meeting
Oporto, Portugal
Pressure Ulcer Prevalence Reductions Seen from the
International Pressure Ulcer Prevalence Survey
Catherine VanGilder, MBA, BS, MT, CCRA, Charlie Lachenbruch, PhD, Stephanie Amlung, PhD,
Patrick Harrison BA, Stephanie Meyer, AS
1* Hill-Rom Clinical Research and Engineering Departments, Batesville, IN, USA
catherine.vangilder@hill-rom.com
There has been a generalized focus in pressure ulcer
prevention efforts across national healthcare systems.
Guidelines for these efforts have been put in place following
reports of poor healthcare quality in 1999 by the Institute of
Medicine, which stated that thousands of Americans either
died from errors in care, or suffered non-fatal injuries.[1] This
was followed by a 2001 report Crossing the Quality Chasm
which noted that “there was an absence of real progress in
addressing quality and cost concerns and in the
improvement of clinical care processes“.[2] In contrast with
these general findings, data from the International Pressure
Ulcer Prevalence Survey, which surveys almost 100,000
patients each year, there has been a significant annual
reduction in pressure ulcers in the US for the last 4 years,
and in Canada over the last 2 years. This report will provide
a summary of overall prevalence (OP) and facility acquired
pressure ulcer prevalence (FAP) data from 2003-2010 from
the US and 2008-2010 data from Canada.
Methods: As part of quality improvement efforts,
participating facilities perform prevalence surveys in their
facilities during a pre-determined 24 hour period within a preselected
2 to 3 day window. While the goal of the survey is
to assess all admitted patients in a facility, 100% patient
inclusion is not mandated for participation. Sites sign up on
the sponsor’s website and receive study materials consisting
of data collection forms, educational materials and general
instructions. Facilities then receive a detailed report
demonstrating individual progress and aggregate data are
summarized for trends.
Results: There has been a significant decrease in annual
overall prevalence in the US each year from 2004-2006 and
2008-2010 (p