Who is at Risk of Developing Pressure Ulcers?
The risk of developing a pressure ulcer is affected by many health and environment-associated factors.
In fact, more than 100 risk factors for pressure ulcers have been identified.
This means that anyone can get a pressure ulcer, although the following factors can make them more likely to develop:
- Being elderly – older people are more likely to have mobility problems and may also have thin skin that is more easily damaged.
- Being confined to bed or a chair with an acute illness, for example a urine infection, diarrhoea and vomiting, or after recent surgery.
- Full or partial paralysis, reducing the ability to move independently.
- Incontinence leading to wet and irritated skin.
- Poor nutrition, which may be due to a lack of adequate nutrients or insufficient calories.
- Medical conditions such as kidney disease or heart failure, or those that affect the blood supply, such as diabetes or peripheral arterial disease, or conditions that affect the ability to move independently, such as a stroke (CVA), multiple sclerosis (MS) or Parkinson’s disease.
- History of previous pressure damage, where scar tissue may be present, as this will be less resilient than normal skin.
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