Prevalence and associated factors of medical adhesiverelated skin injury in cardiac critical care units

Abstract

Objective: To identify and analyze the point prevalence of medical adhesive-related skin injury in patients hospitalized in cardiac Intensive Care Units and demographic and clinical factors associated to their occurrence. Method: Cross-sectional study conducted in Intensive Care Units of two public hospitals, reference centers for cardiology, located in São Paulo city, with 123 patients. Demographic and clinical data from patients’ medical records were collected and lesions were identified through skin inspection. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariate analysis (Classification and Regression Tree). Results: Medical adhesive-related skin injury was presented by 28 patients, which amounts to a 22.7% prevalence. Its main causative agent was transparent polyurethane film (46.9%) and the cervical region was the most affected area (25.1%). From the multivariate analysis, the associated factors were found to be the presence of serum urea higher than or equal to 48.5 mg/dL and platelets lower than 193,500 mm3 or platelets higher than or equal to 193,500 mm3 and systolic blood pressure higher than or equal to 122 mmHg. Conclusion: This study has contributed to knowledge related to the epidemiology of this type of injury, favoring preventive care planning.