Development and application of a new mathematical model for prevention of pressure ulcers

Pressure ulcers are usually a tissue injury that occur long-term hospitalized patients in the skin areas exposed to pressure. In terms of being very common in hospitalized patients and besides having high treatment costs, pressure ulcers are a worldwide serious problem. Therefore preventive studies are important. When studies in the literature are analyzed, it is seen that pressure, temperature and humidity parameters in external factors with high effect in the formation of pressure ulcer are mostly used. In the thesis, a mathematical model in which the wetting parameter, which accelerates the pressure ulcer formation because of sensitizing the patient's skin, is also evaluated was developed. Pressure ulcers risk is examined for the body's five zones; head, feet, shoulders, hips, and legs. The effects of pressure, temperature, humidity and wetness data on pressure ulcer formation and the effects of these parameters according to the body zones are shown in the graphs. Besides ,a mattress were designed using a total of 120 pressure sensors, 49 temperature and 49 humidity sensors and 16 wetness sensors. The actual data supplied from mattresses are evaluated with mathematical model and risk maps are obtained by building an interface. It is observed that the wetness have an accelerating effect on the formation of pressure ulcer. It is observed that local examination of the patient's pressure ulcer risk give better results in preventing pressure ulcer. In conclusion, it is aimed to shorten the length of hospitalization of patients by reducing the workload of nurses in preventing pressure ulcer in this thesis. By means of the results obtained, it is expected to prevent the occurrence of pressure ulcers by providing early detection of the wound formation risk of patient and thus find a solution to this problem which is a serious problem worldwide.