Prevalence of skin tears in the extremities among elderly residents at a nursing home in Denmark.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of skin tears in the extremities and explore factors in relation to skin tears in elderly residents at a Danish nursing home.

METHOD

The study was designed as a point prevalence survey and conducted at a nursing home with 140 residents >65 years of age. The residents were assessed for presence, number and location of skin tears. Data were collected using a data collection sheet developed for this study. The survey team consisted of four expert nurses from a university hospital (two dermatology and two wound care nurses). Data were collected over a period of 10 hours spread over two days.

RESULTS

Of the 128 participating residents six had skin tears, yielding a prevalence of 4.6 %. In total, 10 skin tears were observed in the 6 residents. The frequency of previous skin tears was 19.5 %. This frequency was significantly higher in residents with skin tears than in those without skin tears (83.3 % versus 16.4 %, p<0.001). Analysis of the relation between skin tears or previous skin tears versus without skin tears or previous skin tears showed significant differences related to the presence of ecchymosis (76.9 %versus 14.7 %, p<0.0001). There were no other significant factors observed.

CONCLUSION

The low prevalence found in this study may reflect the focus on prevention of skin tears that the nursing home has maintained over the past year. Nevertheless, the appropriate prevention and management of residents with skin tears is an ongoing challenge for health professionals.