Braden Pressure Ulcer Scale for Prediction of the Intensive Care Length of Stay

Intensive care units are specialized units where patients with multiple comorbidities are treated. The length of stay in intensive care varies according to the characteristics of the patient, the disease and the center. Prolonged intensive care stay causes an increase in mortality . It has been reported that the severity of the disease as well as the comorbidities of the patients contribute to prolonged stay . One third of patients with stay longer than seven days were evaluated as more fragile than before hospital admission. Prolonged intensive care length of stay leads to an increase in morbidity and mortality, bed demand and costs. The Braden pressure ulcer scale was developed by Braden et al. in 1987 . Scoring is done under six different headings evaluating sensory perception, humidity, activity, mobility, nutrition and friction/cutting. It has been reported as an effective tool for evaluating pressure ulcer development in intensive care patients. In this scoring system, there are different assessment steps such as mobility, nutrition, sensory perception, etc., which allows the assessment of the functional capacity of the patients at the time of admission. In a study of elderly dementia patients, the Braden scale was found to be effective in predicting 90-day mortality. In a retrospective evaluation of patients with heart failure, the Braden scale was reported to predict 30-day mortality. The aim of our study is to predict the length of intensive care stay by analyzing the Braden scales calculated on the day of hospitalization.