Personality and Behavioral Predictors of Pressure Ulcer History

Abstract

Purpose To assess the relationship of psychological, environmental, and behavioral factors with pressure ulcers (PUs) in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods A total of 1,549 participants from a large rehabilitation hospital in the southeast United States answered questions regarding outcomes after SCI. Variables from each set of factors were entered sequentially into the model: (1) psychological and environmental, and (2) behavioral. Results Forty-eight percent of participants reported having a PU in the past year. After entering behavioral variables into the model, all environmental and psychological variables became nonsignificant. Odds of having a PU increased 28% with each psychotropic medication taken weekly. Persons who smoked one or more packs of cigarettes daily had 2.82 times the odds of having a PU than persons who did not smoke. Increased hours out of bed were protective against PUs. Conclusion This study demonstrated the importance of health behaviors in the occurrence of PUs after SCI. These health behaviors provide important targets for intervention for health care providers.

Cigarette smoking and risk of pressure ulcer in adult intensive care unit patients

“…32 In a large study, persons with spinal cord injury who smoked a pack of cigarettes or more per day were 2.82 times more common to develop PU than non-smokers. 16 However, some previous research reported that smoking had no correlation with PU development. [18][19][20][21] In Rodriguez et al's study although there was an association between smoking and PU development, this factor did not reach statistical significance.…”

“…In a retrospective study of 176 spinal cord injured patients, PU incidence rates were more than fourfold higher in the smoker than in the non‐smoker . In a large study, persons with spinal cord injury who smoked a pack of cigarettes or more per day were 2.82 times more common to develop PU than non‐smokers …”

“…13 Few studies have been published about the relationship between smoking and the incidence of PU in ICU patients and most studies conducted on non-ICU patients. Several of these studies have found a relationship between smoking and PU, [14][15][16][17] whereas additional studies have not found a similar relationship. [18][19][20][21] The objective of this study was to determine the effect of smoking and some other risk factors on the incidence of PU in adult male patients hospitalized at ICU.…”

Psychosocial issues in spinal cord injury: a review

“…19 As the focus of this paper is on psychosocial issues, papers on relationships between SWB and disablement factors, 14 secondary condition, 20 and environmental factors, 21 except for social support, 19,22 have been excluded, as well as papers on the importance of psychosocial factors as predictors of functional outcomes, 23 pain 24 and other secondary conditions. 25,26 RESULTS Life satisfaction of people with SCI Mean life satisfaction scores are instrument dependent and need a reference to reveal meaningful information. Several studies have compared life satisfaction of people with long-standing SCI with that of the general population (Figure 1).…”

Pressure ulcers in people with spinal cord injury in developing nations

“…Fewer years of education has been identified as a risk factor for PU development in several studies from developed nations. 39,40 In developing nations with comparatively low average educational level, this is also a significant barrier to care and a risk factor for SCI complications. 8,9,31,41 Educational deficiencies in these nations are twofold.…”