Published online Dec 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i35.10956
Peer-review started: June 19, 2021
First decision: July 16, 2021
Revised: August 26, 2021
Accepted: October 25, 2021
Article in press: October 25, 2021
Published online: December 16, 2021
Processing time: 174 Days and 3.7 Hours
Many scales are available to predict the risk of pressure ulcers in children. However, the performances of those scales have not yet been compared in China.
To explore the value of pressure ulcer evaluation scales in Chinese pediatric patients.
To compare the Waterlow, Braden Q, and Glamorgan scales, and identify more suitable pressure ulcer evaluation scale for the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
Trained nurses used the Waterlow, Braden Q, and Glamorgan scales to assess pediatric patients at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital (China) within 24 h of admission, from May 2017 to December 2020 in two stages. Skin examination was carried out to identify pressure ulcers every 3 d for 3 wk.
For PICU, the Waterlow, Braden Q, and Glamorgan scales had slightly lower area under the operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.833, 0.733, and 0.800, respectively, and optimal cut-off values of 13, 16, and 27 points. Braden Q demonstrated a satisfactory specificity, and during the second stage of the study for PICU patients, the AUC of the Braden Q scale was 0.810, with an optimal cut-off value of 18.35 points.
The Waterlow, Braden Q, and Glamorgan scales have comparable performance, while the Braden Q scale demonstrates a better specificity and can be successfully used by pediatric nurses to identify patients at high risk of pressure ulcers in PICU.
In our study, the Braden Q scale is an optimal tool for predicting pressure ulcers in PICU patients, and additional studies across multiple centers with a larger sample size would substantiate the current findings.