Braden Subscales and Their Relationship to the Prevalence of Pressure Ulcers in Hospitalized Obese Patients

Pressure ulcer development is a significant problem for any hospitalized patient, but the obese patient may be at higher risk for ulcer development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the individual Braden subscales to pressure-ulcer occurrence in the obese and non-obese hospitalized patient. Pressure-ulcer prevalence was slightly higher in the obese (17%) compared to the non-obese (14%). However, mean total Braden and Braden subscale scores were similar between the obese and non-obese. Although high-risk total Braden and Braden subscales, except for moisture, were significantly related to the occurrence of ulcer occurrence in both groups, high-risk total Braden score and mobility and friction/shear subscale scores were much more strongly related to ulcer occurrence in obese patients. Additionally, the prevalence of ulcers in obese patients with both high-risk mobility and friction/shear scores (79%) was much higher than in non-obese patients with both high-risk mobility and friction/shear scores (50%).