Who is at Risk of Developing Pressure Ulcers?
The risk of you developing a pressure ulcer is affected by a whole host of health and environment associated factors.
In fact, more than 100 risk factors for pressure ulcers have been identified in the literature.
This means that anyone can get a pressure ulcer, although the following things can make them more likely to form:
- Being elderly – older people are more likely to have mobility problems and have skin that is more easily damaged.
- Being confined to bed or a chair with illness or after surgery.
- Full or partial paralysis, reducing movement.
- Incontinence leading to damp, irritated skin.
- Reduced nutrition, either through a poor quality diet or low calorie intake.
- Medical conditions that affect blood supply, make skin more fragile or cause movement problems – such as diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, kidney failure, heart failure, multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s disease.
- History of previous pressure injury.
