Stotts NA, Rodeheaver GT, Thomas DR, Frantz RA, Bartolucci AA, Sussman C, Ferrell BA, Cuddigan J, Maklebust J, et al.
The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. Date of publication 2001 Dec 1;volume 56(12):M795-9.
1. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001 Dec;56(12):M795-9.
An instrument to measure healing in pressure ulcers: development and validation
of the pressure ulcer scale for healing (PUSH).
Stotts NA(1), Rodeheaver GT, Thomas DR, Frantz RA, Bartolucci AA, Sussman C,
Ferrell BA, Cuddigan J, Maklebust J.
Author information:
(1)School of Nursing, University of California-San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA.
nancy.stotts@nursing.ucsf.edu
BACKGROUND: Currently, there is no instrument that provides an accurate and
simple method of monitoring pressure ulcer healing in clinical practice. This
article reports the two studies that were conducted to assess the validity of the
Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) as a tool to monitor healing of stage
II-IV pressure ulcers.
METHODS: Subjects in both studies (N = 103 and N = 269) were elderly (mean Study
1, 75 years, mean Study 2, 80 years), and the majority were women (Study 1, 51%,
Study 2, 70%). Study data were extracted from patients' permanent records.
RESULTS: Principal components analysis confirmed that the PUSH tool accounted for
58% to 74% of the wound healing variance over a 10-week period in Study 1 and 40%
to 57% of the wound healing variance over a 12-week period in Study 2. In
addition, multiple regression analysis, used to measure the sensitivity of the
model to total healing, showed PUSH accounted for 39% of the variance in 6 weeks
and 31% of the variance over 12 weeks (p <.001; Studies 1 and 2, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: Data from these two studies confirmed that the PUSH tool, with the
components of length times width, exudate amount, and tissue type, is a valid and
sensitive measure of pressure ulcer healing. It is a practical approach that
provides clinically valid data regarding pressure ulcer healing. Further testing
is needed to confirm these findings.
PMID: 11723157 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
