Pressure ulcer knowledge, beliefs and practices in a group of South Africans with spinal cord injury

Abstract

Study design: A quantitative, descriptive study using a cross-sectional survey. Objectives: To describe the pressure ulcer knowledge, beliefs and practices amongst persons with SCI, who received rehabilitation at a Cape Town rehabilitation centre. Setting: A rehabilitation centre for clients with physical disabilities in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive study, that employed consecutive sampling, was done. Participants included inpatients (n = 30), outpatients (n = 33) and peer supporters (n = 8). Data were collected during April and March 2015 with a questionnaire developed through collating existing questionnaires and adapting it for the study context. This rendered a knowledge score and data on beliefs and practices. The Fisher’s exact test was used for comparative analysis (p < 0.05). Results: The mean combined knowledge score was 42.7%. The majority of participants (88.7%) believed pressure ulcers to be serious and 45% thought they were likely to develop a PU. They believed daily skin checks (80.3%), weight shifting (86%) and limiting sitting time (80.3%) could prevent PU development. Study participants indicated that they did not regularly follow guideline recommended practices like regular pressure relief (51%) (36 participants) or daily skin inspection (38%) (27 participants) and 37% (26 participants) reported being current smokers. Conclusion: Participants showed a lack of knowledge, which might have affected their pressure ulcer prevention practices negatively. The study findings can be used to assist with the development of a contextually relevant training programme on pressure care.