Alternating pressure mattresses: comfort and quality of sleep.

Comfort is particularly important for patients with terminal illness where the priority is to maximize quality of life. Equally important is effective pressure area care, as such patients are at high risk of developing pressure sores because of their poor general condition (Bale and Regnard, 1995). The present randomized controlled study set in a hospice focused on the development of methodology for assessing patient comfort and quality of sleep and used this to compare two widely used, alternating air pressure mattresses (the Nimbus II and the Pegasus Airwave). The Nimbus II mattress performed consistently better than the Pegasus Airwave in terms of patient comfort and quality of sleep. Features of the Nimbus II that may explain its better performance include less extreme changes in pressure, lower peak inflation pressures and the ability to automatically vary the pressure to suit the patient's position and weight.