Bed Sores and Associated Risk Factors among Hospital Admitted Patients: A Comparative Cross-sectional Study.

Abstract

Background: Bed sore (BS) is very common among hospital admitted patients. Bed sore is a localized injury to skin and underlying tissues due to pressure or friction and its incidence is affected by multiple factors. Objective: This study was aimed to determine the incidence of bed sore and its potential risk factors among hospital admitted patients. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 108 hospital admitted patients in a tertiary care hospital of Lahore, Pakistan. Simple convenient sampling was used to enroll patients. After taking the informed consent from all patients, data was collected through a self-structured proforma. Data analysis was done via SPSS version 25. Chi square test was utilized to assess the association between bed sores and potential risk factors. Results: The incidence of bed sore among study population was 14 (12.96%). Bed sores incidence was significantly associated with age group (p=0.002), educational status (p=0.03), socioeconomic status (p=0.002), awareness about bed sores (p=0.001), hospital stay length (p=0.002), limitation in movement (p=0.0001), diabetes mellitus (p=0.03), chronic kidney disease (p=0.04), obesity (p=0.001), history of hypertension (p=0.002), history of stroke (p=0.02), and history of heart disease (p=0.04), whereas, bed sores were not associated with gender significantly (p=0.40). Conclusion: In a nutshell, the incidence of bed sores was significantly high among study population. Predisposing factors to the bed sores were advanced age, lower educational status, lower socioeconomic status, lower awareness about bed sores, longer hospital stay, limitation in movement, diabetes mellitus, obesity, history of hypertension, history of stroke, and history of heart disease. Recommendations: This research recommends that people should make aware about the predisposing factors of bed sores and how to avoid these factors at every level and especially in hospitalized patients. Patients should change their position periodically. Obese patients should reduce weight. All patients, especially diabetic patients, should take care of skin.