Skin tear prevalence in an Australian acute care hospital : A 10-year analysis
Journal article
Miles, Sandra J., Fulbrook, Paul and Williams, Damian M.. (2022). Skin tear prevalence in an Australian acute care hospital : A 10-year analysis. International Wound Journal. 19(6), pp. 1418-1427. https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.13735
Authors | Miles, Sandra J., Fulbrook, Paul and Williams, Damian M. |
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Abstract | Hospital-acquired skin tear prevalence is under-reported; thus, the aim of this study was to analyse skin tear point prevalence and characteristics in a tertiary acute care hospital in Queensland, Australia, over a 10-year period. All consenting adult inpatients received a full skin inspection and skin tear category, site, cause, treatment, and whether it was documented as hospital- or community-acquired were recorded. Eleven prevalence audits were analysed with a total sample of 3626 patients. An overall pooled prevalence of 8.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.5-10.4) with an associated hospital-acquired pooled prevalence of 5.5% (95% CI 4.5-6.7) was found. In total, 616 skin tears were reported, of which 374 (60.7%) were hospital-acquired. Over a third of patients (38.7%) had multiple skin tears and most patients (84.8%) with at least one skin tear were aged ≥70 years. The largest proportion of skin tears (40.1%) was those with no skin flap. Of those documented, most were caused by falls or collisions, suggesting combined skin tear and falls prevention strategies may be effective. Over a decade, there was a downward trend in hospital-acquired skin tear, which is encouraging. Skin tear prevalence is recommended as a measure of care quality with an emphasis on good quality documentation. |
Keywords | acute care; hospital-acquired; prevalence; skin tears; wound management |
Year | 2022 |
Journal | International Wound Journal |
Journal citation | 19 (6), pp. 1418-1427 |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons Ltd |
Medicalhelplines.com Inc (3M) | |
ISSN | 1742-4801 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.13735 |
PubMed ID | 34951125 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85121608026 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC9493203 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Page range | 1418-1427 |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 24 Dec 2021 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 01 Dec 2021 |
Deposited | 01 Dec 2022 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8y7y7/skin-tear-prevalence-in-an-australian-acute-care-hospital-a-10-year-analysis
Download files
Publisher's version
OA_Miles_2022_Skin_tear_prevalence_in_an_Australian.pdf | |
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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