Aims:

To obtain figures on the prevalence of pressure injuries (PI) and other types of dependence-related skin lesions (DRSL) in Spanish nursing homes and residential care centres. To analyse the demographic and clinical characteristics of people with DRSL and the characteristics of the lesions.

Methods:

Observational, cross-sectional, epidemiological study through a survey (5th National Prevalence Study), aimed at nursing homes and residential centres in Spain. Data collection between November and December 2017 using a secure on-line form. Variables: characteristics of the centres, number of patients with each type of DRSL, prevention measures, classification of each lesion, size and time of evolution. The crude prevalence and its 95% confidence interval were calculated.

Results:

43 nursing home and residential care centres participated, from 6 Spanish autonomous communities. Only 7% of the centres stated that they did not have any person with DRSL attended at the time of collecting the data. The overall prevalence of LCRD was 6.24% (95%CI: 5.51 7.07%) and that of each type of lesion: pressure 4.03%, humidity 2.19%, friction 0.80%, combined 1.01% and skin tears 1.31%. For PI, the prevalence was higher in subsidised (8.12%) and private (4.40%) centres than in public (2.96%) ones. There are no differences between types of centres for the other injuries. DRSL were of nosocomial origin (originating in residential institutions or hospitals) in 92.4% of cases and only 7.6% originated at home.

Conclusions:

The prevalence of DRSL in nursing homes and residential centres is the lowest in this type of settings in the historical series of studies carried out in Spain by GNEAUPP. Due to the fact that the participation of centres has been much lower than that of previous studies, this lower prevalence could be explained by a higher representation in the sample of those centres more motivated toward DRSL prevention; but also by an improvement in preventive programmes. There are statistically significant differences between the prevalence of SLRD according to the funding of the centres, with the lowest in the public centres and the highest in the subsidised centres. The profile, types of injuries, severity and location of the DRSL are similar to those described in primary care or hospitals.

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