A multilayer polyurethane foam dressing for pressure ulcer prevention in older hip fracture patients: an economic evaluation

Objective: Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (PU) have a substantial negative impact on patients and continue to impose a cost burden on hospital providers. Since the incidence of fragility fracture is growing, driven by the increase in the older population, it is expected that the overall incidence of associated complications will also increase accordingly. The aim of this economic evaluation was to determine whether the use of a multilayer, silicone-adhesive polyurethane foam dressing (ALLEVYN LIFE, Smith & Nephew, UK) alongside standard prevention (SP) for the prevention of PUs in older patients with hip fractures is a cost-effective strategy, compared with SP alone. Method: A decision-analytic model was constructed to determine the incremental cost and effectiveness of the foam dressing strategy from the perspectives of the Italian and US hospital systems. We also performed one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Results: The foam dressing intervention was found to be cost saving and more effective than SP in both Italy and the US. Switching to foam dressing and standard prevention would result in an expected cost saving of (sic)733 per patient in Italy and $840 per patient in the US, reducing the per-patient cost of treating PUs by 37-69% and 36-68%, respectively. The one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses demonstrate that the strategy remains dominant over a range of values of the input variables. Conclusion: The foam dressing intervention is likely to be a cost-effective strategy compared with standard prevention alone.