[Prevalence of pressure ulcers in person victim of trauma: predisposing factors].

Introduction: Pressure ulcers [PrUs], recognized as a complex problem of multifactorial cause, with high costs at individual, family and socioeconomic level, are also taken as an indicator of quality in nursing care. Knowing that the Person Victim of Trauma involves high risk of developing PrUs, it is imperative to investigate the factors that lead to it

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of PrUs in Person Victim of Trauma; to identify predisposing factors for the development of PrUs.

Materials and methods: Observational study conducted in a non-probabilistic sample of convenience, with 500 trauma victims as participants, admitted to the Hospital Infante D. Pedro, in Aveiro, in 2010. Data were collected based on the Clinic Grid (Cunha & Costa, 2011) RESULTS: The prevalence of Pressure Ulcer [PrU] was 4% and the statistically significant factors of its development were : advanced age, greater length of stay, lower diastolic blood pressure, higher pain intensity; dependence in self-care: eating and drinking; presence of diabetes, presence of urinary catheter on admission and during hospitalization, use of diaper; dependence on hygiene and protection of integuments; presence of dry skin; need for physical restraint; taking antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicine; longer time from admission to the first application of the Braden Scale; higher risk of PrU in the first assessment

Conclusions: This confirms the multifactorial development of PrUs, which makes it relevant for the nurses to consider factors such as length of stay, age, blood pressure, pain, reliance on self-care, physical restraint; antibiotics, assessment and risk level in their planning / implementation of preventive measures against that development and the consequent improvement of the quality of their care.