Prevalence of pressure ulcer in Iran's intensive care units: A systematic review and a meta-analysis

Pressure ulcer (PU) is a costly, painful, and often a preventable problem with varying prevalence in different health centers. PU is associated with prolonged length of stay and mortality. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence of PU in Iran’s intensive care units (ICUs).

In this research, 9 articles published in Persian and English were studied. National (Science Information Database (SID) and MagIran) and international databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched using the keywords of pressure ulcers, bedsore, pressure sore, decubitus ulcer, pressure injury, Iran, and all of possible combinations without time limitations. Data were analyzed using meta-analysis and the random effects model. The heterogeneity between studies was investigated by I2 statistic, and the Stata software (version 11).

The total prevalence of PU in Iran’s ICUs was 19.59% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 13.15- 25.97). The prevalence of PU in region 1 of the country was 28.55% (95% CI: 12.27-44.84), and it was 10.31 (95% CI: 3.88-16.75) in other areas of the country. Meta-regression results showed a significant correlation between the prevalence of PU and the mean age of the patients (P = 0.122) as well as study sample size (P = 0.043).

We found that the overall prevalence of PU in Iran’s ICUs was relatively high. Considering the high prevalence of PU in Iranian ICUs, it seems necessary to investigate and implement effective interventions to control and reduce this problem.