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BackgroundThe aim of this study was to identify factors associated with pressure injury (PI) occurrence in critically ill patients. This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at a mixed intensive care unit (ICU).MethodsUnivariate analysis and logistic regression were used to identify which variables are associated with PI.ResultsTwenty-one (15%) of 142 patients developed PI. The median and the range of the variables in the groups without and with PI were as follows: Braden scale risk score, 13 (8 - 20) and 10 (8 - 14) points, respectively; Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) death risk, 39% (2 - 97%) and 75% (26 - 96%), respectively; and length of stay in the ICU, 4 (2 - 36) and 16 (5 - 29) days, respectively. The socio-demographic variables included in the logistic regression were age (P = 0.09), Braden scale risk score (P = 0.0003), APACHE II death risk (P < 0.0001), length of stay in the ICU (P < 0.0001) and reason for ICU admission (P = 0.09). Only APACHE II death risk and length of stay in the ICU presented significant differences; the odds ratios were 1.05 and 1.25, respectively, and the 95% confidence intervals were 1.01 - 1.09 and 1.12 - 1.39, respectively.ConclusionAPACHE II death risk and length of stay in the ICU are probably associated with PI occurrence in the study population.

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Pressure lesions acquired in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) have long been used as a sensitive indicator of the type of care delivered by health professionals, influencing hospitalization time, costs of treatment and emotional impact to patients. This study was aimed to verify the relationship between the occurrence of pressure ulcers with the demographic and clinical variables of the patients and the nursing workload in the intensive care unit. This is a quantitative and prospective study developed in a general ICU of a large and high complexity hospital in a city of Sao Paulo state. Data collection was performed from October 2016 to January 2017, gathering a convenience sample of 30 patients. The inclusion criteria were: patients aged 18 years or older hospitalized for the first time in the unit due to clinical or surgical treatment, for at least 24 hours and without dermatological lesions at the time of admission. In addition to the demographic and clinical data, the application of the instruments: Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3 (SAPS 3), Nursing Activities Score (NAS) and the Braden Scale to measure: the patient's severity; nursing workload and pressure ulcer risk (PU) respectively. The clinical evaluation was performed daily by the researcher until the outcome of the patients' condition. To verify the relationship between the occurrence of the lesion and the studied variables, univariate analyzes were performed. For the dichotomous variables we used Fisher's exact test while the Mann-Whitney / Wilcoxon test was used for the continuous quantitative variables since they did not comply with a normal distribution. The results indicated that the group of patients without lesions (n = 21) was predominantly female (66.6%), aged less than 60 years (52.38%), whites (71.4%), normal BMI 52.4%), median time of 4 days of hospitalization, due to the need for clinical monitoring (42.8%). In this group, the median values of the SAPS 3, Braden and NAS scores were 53, 14 and 86 points respectively. Those patients who developed pressure lesions (n = 9) were also female (66.6%), aged 60 years or older (55.5%), white (77.7%), obese (66.6%), with a median hospitalization of 4 days and admitted to the ICU due to hemodynamic instability (77.8%). The variables related to SAPS 3, Braden and NAS presented a median of 78, 11 and 97 points. The overall incidence of pressure injury was 30%, with a predominance of lesions in the calcaneal and gluteal region, diagnosed between the second and the eighth day of hospitalization. Among their clinical characteristics, we underline the hemodynamic instability of the patients who developed the injury. The following variables showed statistical relevance in the patients affected by PU: severity index, risk score and workload. As a limitation of this study, it was not possible to perform multivariate analysis to confirm these findings due to the reduced sample size. A high workload can act as a factor of impact, associated to the increase in incidence, especially in relation to the demand for car...