Impact of a health care quality improvement intervention to prevent pressure ulcers in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Introduction. Among children hospitalized in the intensive care unit who have pressure ulcers (PUs), more than 50% are related to the sustained pressure from a device or equipment. PUs are an indirect indicator of the quality of health care. Objective. To assess the impact of a health care quality improvement intervention on the development of PUs at the pediatric intensive care unit. Materials and methods. Uncontrolled, before and after study. Pre-intervention: measurement of PUs; post-intervention: implementation of a bundle of measures (staff training, identification of patients at risk, and pressure relief by using antibedsore mattresses and polymer gel positioners) and the same measurements. Results. A total of 152 patients were included: 74 before the intervention and 78 after the intervention. A significant reduction was observed in the incidence of PUs (pre-intervention: 50.60%; post-intervention: 23.08%; p= 0.001). A higher risk score was seen in the post-intervention group (pre-intervention: 12.4 +/- 1.9; post-intervention: 13.7 +/- 2.1; p= 0.001). No differences were observed in the risk score on the day of PU onset and the number of PUs. The risk-stratified analysis maintained the significant difference in the incidence of PUs (PIM2 < 5: 47.37%; 19.23%; p= 0.004; and PIM2 >= 5: 55.56%; 30.77%; p = 0.053). Conclusion. A lower incidence of PUs was observed after the implementation of the health care quality improvement intervention. No changes were detected in the number of PUs or the severity staging.