Determining the level of knowledge of caregiver family members on pressure injury prevention

Bedridden patients with home care needs are very likely to develop pressure injuries. These patients are often cared for at home by informal caregivers/family members and a significant proportion of pressure injuries develop before the patient arrives at the hospital. Therefore, the level of knowledge of family caregivers is very important in the prevention of pressure injury. In this study, it was aimed to determine the level of knowledge of family caregivers on pressure injury prevention. The population of the descriptive study consisted of patients who were planned to be discharged from the inpatient wards of Abdulkadir Yüksel State Hospital and SANKO University Hospital in Gaziantep province, who were at risk of developing pressure injury and who would be cared for at home by a family member, and their family caregivers. The study sample included 105 relatives of patients who met the research criteria between the dates of the study. Data were collected between February and April 2023. Patient and Caregiver Family Member Descriptive Form and Pressure Injury Prevention Knowledge Test were used for data collection. Frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test, Dunn's test and Spearman's correlation analysis test were used for data analysis with SPSS 22.0 program. Of the patients, 38.1% (n=40) were male, 61.9% (n=65) were female and the mean age was 68.96 years (SD (Standard Deviation)=18.07). Of the patients, 30.48% were bedridden due to cerebrovascular events and 28.57% due to old age. Of the caregivers, 71.43% were female (n=75), 28.57% were male (n=30), mean age was 47.11 years (SD=14.85), 47.62% were primary school graduates, 57.14% were first-degree relatives of the patient, 75.24% were married, 62.86% were housewives, 73.33% were not working, 86.67% had social security, and 77.14% had income less than expenses. In addition, 28.57% of the patients had pressure injury. The rate of correct knowledge of the Pressure Injury Prevention Knowledge Test by family caregivers was 58.82%. A significant difference was found between the knowledge test score and education and income level (p=0.006; p=0.002). It was determined that caregiver family members needed information about pressure injury prevention. Therefore, it is recommended that education about prevention of pressure injury should be included in discharge planning for this group of patients and necessary follow-up should be performed by the home health services unit. Keywords: Pressure Injury; Home Care; Informal Caregivers; Patient Relatives; Level of Knowledge