Pressure relieving support surfaces: a randomised evaluation

Abstract

Non-UK purchasers will have to pay a small fee for post and packing. For European countries the cost is £2 per monograph and for the rest of the world £3 per monograph.You can order HTA monographs from our Despatch Agents:-fax (with credit card or official purchase order) -post (with credit card or official purchase order or cheque) -phone during office hours (credit card only).Additionally the HTA website allows you either to pay securely by credit card or to print out your order and then post or fax it. Contact Payment methods Paying by chequeIf you pay by cheque, the cheque must be in pounds sterling, made payable to Direct Mail Works Ltd and drawn on a bank with a UK address. Paying by credit cardThe following cards are accepted by phone, fax, post or via the website ordering pages: Delta, Eurocard, Mastercard, Solo, Switch and Visa. We advise against sending credit card details in a plain email. Paying by official purchase orderYou can post or fax these, but they must be from public bodies (i.e. NHS or universities) within the UK.We cannot at present accept purchase orders from commercial companies or from outside the UK. How do I get a copy of HTA on CD?Please use the form on the HTA website (www.hta.ac.uk/htacd.htm). Or contact Direct Mail Works (see contact details above) by email, post, fax or phone. HTA on CD is currently free of charge worldwide.The website also provides information about the HTA Programme and lists the membership of the various committees. HTA NHS R&D HTA ProgrammeT he research findings from the NHS R&D Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme directly influence key decision-making bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Screening Committee (NSC) who rely on HTA outputs to help raise standards of care. HTA findings also help to improve the quality of the service in the NHS indirectly in that they form a key component of the 'National Knowledge Service' that is being developed to improve the evidence of clinical practice throughout the NHS.The HTA Programme was set up in 1993. Its role is to ensure that high-quality research information on the costs, effectiveness and broader impact of health technologies is produced in the most efficient way for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. 'Health technologies' are broadly defined to include all interventions used to promote health, prevent and treat disease, and improve rehabilitation and long-term care, rather than settings of care.The HTA Programme commissions research only on topics where it has identified key gaps in the evidence needed by the NHS. Suggestions for topics are actively sought from people working in the NHS, the public, service-users groups and professional bodies such as Royal Colleges and NHS Trusts.Research suggestions are carefully considered by panels of independent experts (including service users) whose advice results in a ranked list of recommended research priorities. The HTA Programme then commissions the research team best suited to und...

Exposure to internal muscle tissue loads under the ischial tuberosities during sitting is elevated at abnormally high or low body mass indices

“…Several factors have been proposed in the epidemiological literature as being associated with an increased risk of developing pressure ulcers at large; a consensus exists regarding impaired mobility, poor nutrition manifested by a low body mass index (BMI= bodyweight/squared-height [kg/m 2 ]) and loss of subcutaneous fat (Garcia and Thomas, 2006). However, clinical studies aimed at identifying risk factors specific for DTI are limited in sizes of patient groups and involvement of co-morbidities (Nixon et al, 2006). There is also little scientific evidence regarding risk factors specific for DTI (Stekelenburg et al, 2007;Elsner and Gefen, 2008;), though our group has previously suggested obesity as such (Elsner and Gefen, 2008).…”

Essence of Care and the pressure ulcer benchmark – An evaluation

“…Findings from the literature support this anecdotal evidence, one study found that 46% of alternating pressure mattresses were being used inappropriately; either having been installed incorrectly or were faulty [34]. A multi-centre randomised controlled trial (the PRESSURE trial [37]) identified numerous technical problems with both overlay and replacement systems, these are detailed in Table 1.…”

Pressure relieving support surfaces (PRESSURE) trial: cost effectiveness analysis

“…During the trial we observed that grade 2 pressure ulcers did not usually receive dressings and other nursing care therefore we did not estimate for further treatment costs. 7 The health benefits associated with the interventions were captured as pressure ulcer free days. We chose this approach rather than the more usual method of trying to capture a patient's utility through changes in quality of life because concurrent illness would dominate any quality of life measurement.…”

“…7 Briefly, eligible people were aged at least 55 years who were admitted to vascular, orthopaedic, medical, or care of the elderly wards, either as acute or elective admissions, in the previous 24 hours. Inclusion criteria were an expected length of stay of at least seven days, and an expected (if elective) or actual limitation of activities and mobility or an existing pressure ulcer of grade 2, or both.…”