The percentage of nursing home residents with pressure sores has fallen over the last decade, according to a newly released report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Both long- and short-stay nursing home residents saw improvements in rates of pressure sores, according to the report. Among short-stay patients, the rate fell from 22.6% in 2000 to 18.9% in 2008. The percentage among long-stay patients fell from 13.9% in 2000 to 11.7% in 2008. Short-stay residents typically have higher rates of pressure ulcer than long-stay residents, often because they are admitted to a nursing home in order to help treat a pressure sore that developed in an acute-care setting, experts note.
The AHRQ report also found that the percentage of long-stay nursing home residents who require help with activities of daily living has generally held steady since 2000. But while the overall percentage remained at 16.2% between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of long-stay residents up to 64 years old needing help with ADLs did increase from roughly 10% to 12%. AHRQ is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
