Braden Pressure Ulcer Scale for Prediction of the Intensive Care Length of Stay

The Effect of the Braden Pressure Ulcer Scale on the Prediction of Intensive Care Unit Length of Stay

The aim of this study is to predict the length of intensive care unit stay of patients treated in a tertiary general intensive care unit with the help of the Braden risk assesment scale, which is used to predict the risk of pressure ulcers. The main question it aims to answer is:

• Does high Braden scales predict the long lenght of stay? Braden scales of patients admitted to the intensive care unit were recorded every day.

Intensive care units are specialized units where patients with multiple comorbidities are treated. The length of stay in intensive care varies according to the characteristics of the patient, the disease and the center. Prolonged intensive care stay causes an increase in mortality . It has been reported that the severity of the disease as well as the comorbidities of the patients contribute to prolonged stay . One third of patients with stay longer than seven days were evaluated as more fragile than before hospital admission. Prolonged intensive care length of stay leads to an increase in morbidity and mortality, bed demand and costs.

The Braden pressure ulcer scale was developed by Braden et al. in 1987 . Scoring is done under six different headings evaluating sensory perception, humidity, activity, mobility, nutrition and friction/cutting. It has been reported as an effective tool for evaluating pressure ulcer development in intensive care patients. In this scoring system, there are different assessment steps such as mobility, nutrition, sensory perception, etc., which allows the assessment of the functional capacity of the patients at the time of admission. In a study of elderly dementia patients, the Braden scale was found to be effective in predicting 90-day mortality. In a retrospective evaluation of patients with heart failure, the Braden scale was reported to predict 30-day mortality.

The aim of our study is to predict the length of intensive care stay by analyzing the Braden scales calculated on the day of hospitalization.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients older than 18 years
• Patients treated in intensive care
• Patients treated with diagnoses other than Covid-19
• Patients without missing data in the hospital electronic data system
• Patients hospitalized for more than 24 hours

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients younger than 18 years
• Patients treated for Covid-19 disease
• Patients with missing data in the hospital electronic data system
• Patients hospitalized for less than 24 hours