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MONDAY, June 3, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Pressure injuries at the time of admission to an intensive care unit may predict patients at risk for longer hospital stays, according to a study published in the June issue of Critical Care Nurse<\/i>.<\/p>\n
William T. McGee, M.D., from the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, and colleagues retrospectively analyzed inpatient data from 2,723 adult patients in a 24-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit in a large level I trauma center from 2010 to 2012. The authors sought to evaluate the association between pressure injuries and length of stay and mortality.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that 6.6 percent of patients had a pressure injury at admission. Compared with patients without a pressure injury at admission, patients with a pressure injury had a longer mean unadjusted stay (15.6 versus 10.5 days) and higher in-hospital mortality rate (32.2 percent versus 18.3 percent). The association between pressure injuries and mean increase in length of stay remained with adjustment for other variables (mean difference, 3.1 days).<\/p>\n
“Pressure injuries present at admission to the intensive care unit are an objective, easy-to-identify finding associated with longer stays,” the authors write.<\/p>\n