Objective: to assess the efficacy of an educational programme as a tool to reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers and to determine the variables associated with the development of pressure ulcers in the Intensive Care Service (ICS) of the Joan XXIII University Hospital of Tarragona.
Material and method: a before-after experimental study with four measurement time points. Time period: two years. All admitted patients were included. The educational programme was structured in four stages and recommendations based on the scientific evidence criteria of the GRADE system were followed. Interventions were carried out on different aspects of pressure ulcer prevention and modified according to the needs detected. Data analysis: descriptive statistics indexes and bivariate analysis, Student’s “t” test, Mann-Whitney’s U, the Chi Square test and Fisher’s exact test.
Results: the sample included a total of 2,418 patients. The incidence of patients with pressure ulcers at the beginning of the study was 14,1%, decreasing to 3,7% at the end despite the fact that the risk of developing a pressure ulcer was also greater by the end of the study (10,9 versus 8,6 in the EMINA scale). The day of onset of pressure ulcers also significantly increased (from 8,9 to 12,5 days).
Conclusions: the application of an educational programme has reduced the incidence of pressure ulcers. The variables that are most related with the appearance of pressure ulcers in the ICS were: high EMINA risk, use of static support devices and having a polyvinyl catheter (16 CH French gauge/5,3 mm). The identification of several improvement areas in each of the study periods enabled specific interventions on each one of them.