Transformative Insights into Community-Acquired Pressure Injuries Among the Elderly: A Big Data Analysis.

Purpose: To investigate community-acquired pressure injuries (CAPIs) in older people by utilizing big data.

Design: Retrospective data curation and analysis of inpatient data from two general medical centers between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2018.

Methods: Nursing assessments from 44,449 electronic medical records of patients admitted to internal medicine departments were retrieved, organized, coded by data engineers, and analyzed by data scientists. Potential explanatory patient characteristics tested were gender, age, admission indices, nursing assessments including CAPIs, CAPI type and location, vital signs, and the results of lab tests within the first 36 h of admission.

Findings: Most CAPIs were located in the buttocks (56.9%), followed by the sacrum (11.8%), ankle (10.8%), trochanter (5.1%), and leg (3.9%). Tissue associated with CAPIs was described as necrotic, serotic, bloody, granolithic, epithelial, and infected. There were 31% of first-degree CAPIs, 41% second-degree, and 18% third-degree. Previously unacknowledged patient characteristics associated with CAPIs are as follows: age, oxygen use, intestinal function, the touch senses of heat and pain, albumin, RDW (red cell distribution width), and systolic blood pressure.

Conclusions: The novel indicators for CAPIs underscore the importance of data-driven approaches in detecting and preventing CAPIs in community care. These markers can detect and prevent pressure ulcers in the community, particularly among the elderly.

Relevance For Clinical Practice: Nursing management is called upon to integrate information about novel patient characteristics associated with CAPI into clinical practice. Assimilating the insights from this hospital nursing-led study into community nursing will enhance the safety and quality of care for the elderly.