Evidence for the Validity of the Medline Pressure Ulcer Prevention Program (mPUPP)

Abstract

Introduction: Pressure ulcers (PrU) develop on 1 million people every year and the costs for treating this problem approach $11 billion. While not all PrUs can be prevented, most can be and Medicare has begun to deny payment for PrUs that develop in hospitals. A pressure ulcer prevention program has been developed and the researchers sought to evaluate the impact of the program. Methods: The program was based on previously published evidence that clinician involvement, patient, family, and caregiver education, and good skin care are important components of a successful prevention program. All facilities participating in the program, for which pre and post program PrU incidence data were available, were included in the study. Pre-program PrU incidence data were collected from 99 facilities and compared to post-program PrU incidence data. Results: The mean pre-program PrU incidence was 6.18 (range 38 to 0) and the mean post program incidence was 2.82 (range 24 to 0), yielding an average improvement for the entire sample of 3.36 (range -8 to 34), a 54% improvement. This difference was statistically significant, t (98) = 6.349, p<.001. No statistical differences between PrU rates or changes in facilities of different types or sizes were observed. Conclusions: The program demonstrated validity by reducing PrU incidence in facilities of different types. Whether this improvement is different from other pressure ulcer reduction programs is not known.