Impact of fall prevention protocols on Quality of Life in Patients with hospital-acquired pressure ulcers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22814928Keywords:
fall prevention, pressure ulcer, quality of life, hospital-acquired, patient safetyAbstract
Background: Falls and hospital-acquired pressure ulcers frequently coexist in the same immobile, comorbid inpatients, yet fall prevention protocols and pressure ulcer prevention bundles are usually designed, delivered and audited as separate quality programs.
Objective: This review synthesizes evidence on how fall prevention protocols intersect with, and influence, the health-related quality of life of patients who develop hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, and examines the shared risk factors, measurement approaches and implementation barriers underlying both.
Methods: We synthesized cohort studies, cluster-randomized trials, systematic reviews and patient-reported outcome studies addressing fall risk, pressure ulcer incidence, mobility restriction and quality of life in hospitalized adults.
Findings: Immobility, advanced age, impaired sensation and reduced perfusion drive both fall risk and pressure ulcer risk, so multicomponent fall prevention protocols that restrict mobility without compensatory repositioning can inadvertently raise pressure ulcer incidence, while patients who develop pressure ulcers report substantial reductions in physical, psychological and social quality of life domains, compounded when a fall or fear of falling follows.
Conclusions: Integrating fall prevention and pressure ulcer prevention into a single mobility-preserving, risk-stratified protocol, supported by validated quality of life instruments, offers a more coherent path to protecting both patient safety and quality of life than managing the two programs in isolation.
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