Pressure ulcer predictors in ICU patients: nursing skin assessment versus objective parameters.

Objective: To evaluate objective parameters and subjective nursing assessment as pressure ulcer risk factors for intensive care unit (ICU) patients, and compared them with the performance of a general assessment tool (Waterlow scale). To validate the newly developed assessment method.

Method: This prospective epidemiological study involved 698 patients admitted to an ICU between April 2001 and December 2004 without pressure ulcers and who stayed in the ICU for more than 72 hours.

[Validity of the Waterlow scale for pressure ulcer risk assessment in the intensive care unit: a prospective analysis of 698 patients].

Critically ill patients are at a particular risk for developing pressure ulcers. Yet until now, no sufficiently specific, validated pressure ulcer risk assessment instruments exist for critically ill patients. In a prospective study of 698 patients of medical intensive care unit (ICU), we therefore analyzed if the Waterlow scale is suitable for pressure ulcer risk assessment in the ICU.