Health-related quality of life in elderly hospitalized patients with pressure ulcers

The prevalence of pressure ulcers (PU) in hospitalized elderly patients is 26.2%¹. PU  change the activities of daily life contributing to the loss of appetite, pain, confinement and for many it is perceived as a punishment^2-3. Purpose: to assess health-related quality of life in elderly hospitalized patients with pressure ulcers. Methods: A cross-sectional study in 59 elderly aged over 60 years, patients with PU (study group) or not (control group). To evaluate the cognitive ability was applied  the Mini Mental score equal to or greater than 19 allowed applying the Depression Scale of the Center for Epidemiological Studies (DSCES) and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Risk factors for PU development were evaluated by Braden Scale ©. Results: Included 38 patients in the CG and 21 in the SG. The median age was 74 years in both groups (P = 0.975). There were more females (52.6%) among the elderly without PU and elderly patients with, was predominantly male (52.4%) (P = 0.789). There was positive correlation between the length of hospital stay and occurrence of PU (P = 0.000). Leucodermas was prevalence of both groups (P = 0.020). Groups were also comparable in BMI, (P = 0.075). Significant difference between groups in scores of DSCES (P = 0.006), the control group showed higher levels of depression. On SF-36, observed better quality of life than the control group in the Functional Capacity (p = 0.0001) and Role Physical (p = 0.009), General Aspects of Health (p = 0.037) and vitality (p = 0.003). Groups also differed significantly on the Braden Scale ©, the study group at highest risk for developing PU (p <0.0001). Conclusion: The elderly hospitalized with PU showed positive indicator of depressive symptoms, worse health-related quality of life in relation to Functional Capacity, Physical, General Health and Vitality.