Prevalence and incidence of pressure ulcers in patients with spinal cord injury: overview of reviews

What is it about?

Background: Pressure ulcers (PUs) are high-risk complications of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. These secondary complications influence the burden of disease, quality of life and cost of the healthcare system. Hence, the prevalence and incidence rates of PUs among patients with SCI are essential information in terms of formulating healthcare strategies and understanding the context of this complication. Aim:The aim of this review was to summarise the evidence regarding the incidence and prevalence of PUs in individuals with SCI. Methods: We followed the PRIOR statement, reporting guidelines for the overviews of reviews of healthcare interventions. This review included research syntheses published within the past 10 years. A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE (Ovid) and Epistemonikos. Findings: We included three research syntheses in the narrative conceptual synthesis. The included reviews reported that the global incidence of PUs was 0.23 (95% CI, 0.20-0.26), and the global pooled magnitude of PUs was 32.36% (95% CI, 28.21-36.51) among SCI patients. SCI-associated PUs are “very prevalent in developing nations”, although reported prevalence and incidence rates vary substantially. All the included studies faced significant heterogeneity in the primary studies. Conclusions:This overview of reviews provides a summary of available research syntheses on the occurrence of PUs among SCI patients. Implications for clinical practice: (I) Recent research syntheses on prevalence and incidence rates of PUs among patients with SCI are desirable, along with proper reporting of this secondary complications. (II) Policymakkers should prioritise the implementation of targeted, context-specific preventive strategies to significantly reduce the burden of PUs in patients with SCI, thereby greatly enhancing the overall quality of healthcare services for this vulnerable population.

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