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American Journal of Critical Care. 2007;16: 568-574
Copyright © 2007 by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
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Skin Integrity in Critically Ill and Injured Children

By Christine A. Schindler, RN, MSN, CPNP-AC, Theresa A. Mikhailov, MD, Kay Fischer, RN, MSN, Gloria Lukasiewicz, RN, MS, Evelyn M. Kuhn, PhD and Linda Duncan, RN. Christine A. Schindler is a pediatric critical care nurse practitioner and Theresa A. Mikhailov is a pediatric inten-sivist in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care, Medical College of Wisconsin, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Kay Fischer is the patient care manager and Linda Duncan is a clinical enhancements and quality coordinator in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Gloria Lukasiewicz is a National Association of Childrens Hospitals and Related Institutions analyst III and Evelyn M. Kuhn is a biostatistician at National Outcomes Center, Inc, Children’s Hospital and Health Systems, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Corresponding author: Christine Schindler, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, PO Box 1997, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1997 MS 681 (e-mail: cschindl{at}mcw.edu).


   Abstract
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 Abstract
Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Background Skin breakdown increases the cost of care, may lead to increased morbidity, and has negative psychosocial implications because of secondary scarring or alopecia. The scope of this problem has not been widely studied in critically ill and injured children.

Objectives To determine the incidence of skin breakdown in critically ill and injured children and to compare the characteristics of patients who experience skin breakdown with those of patients who do not.

Methods Admission and follow-up data for a 15-week period were collected retrospectively on children admitted to a large pediatric intensive care unit. The incidence of skin breakdown was calculated. The risk for skin breakdown associated with potential risk factors (relative risk) and 95% confidence intervals were determined.

Results The sample consisted of 401 distinct stays in the intensive care unit for 373 patients. During the 401 stays, skin breakdown occurred in 34 (8.5%), redness in 25 (6.2%), and breakdown and redness in 13 (3.2%); the overall incidence was 18%. Patients who had skin breakdown or redness were younger, had longer stays, and were more likely to have respiratory illnesses and require mechanical ventilatory support than those who did not. Patients who had skin breakdown or redness had a higher risk of mortality than those who did not.

Conclusions Risk factors for skin breakdown were similar to those previously reported. Compared with children of other ages, children 2 years or younger are at higher risk for skin breakdown.

Outstanding skin care is a nurse-sensitive outcome measure established by the American Nurses Association.1 Maintaining skin integrity in the critical care environment is difficult because of the acuity of the patients and the highly invasive interventions and therapies they receive. The prevalence, prevention, and treatment of skin breakdown in adults have been widely studied.2–5 Validated risk assessment tools, such as the Braden Scale,6 are used in adults to identify patients at risk for pressure ulcers. Pediatric nurses continue to extrapolate from the literature on skin integrity in adults even though the information and methods may not fully meet the needs of infants and children.7

Recently, more research has been done on skin breakdown in children. For example, Quigley and Curley7 developed the Braden Q Scale for use in children, and Curley et al8 reported that the performance of the Braden Q Scale in children is similar to the performance of the Braden scale in adults.

The prevalence of pressure ulcers in infants and children was as high as 13.1% in a descriptive study9 from a single institution and as low as 4% in a descriptive multisite study.10 In another multisite study,11 the incidence of pressure ulcers in patients in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) was 27%; however, children with congenital heart disease were not included in the study. The prevalence studies also indicated that children experience numerous skin problems in addition to pressure ulcers.

Other types of skin breakdown not related to pressure in infants and children include diaper dermatitis, skin tears, and extravasation of fluid being infused intravenously.10 Previously reported risk factors for development of pressure ulcers include cardiac arrest after cardiothoracic surgery, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in neonates, higher risk of mortality according to scores on the Pediatric

Risk of Mortality 2 (PRISM 2) instrument, white race/ethnicity, edema, PICU length of stay longer than 96 hours, increasing positive end-expiratory pressure, not turning the patient or not using a specialty bed in the turning mode, weight loss, and use of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation.12–16


The Braden Q, used in pediatrics, performs similarly to the Braden scale used in adults.

 

The potential impact of skin breakdown is great in cost and human suffering. Children in the PICU are at high risk for skin breakdown, but the true incidence of this condition in this population is unknown.

The purposes of our study were to explore the scope of skin breakdown in patients in the PICU and to determine the characteristics of those who had skin breakdown. Our objectives were to determine the incidence of skin breakdown, to compare the characteristics of patients who did and did not have skin breakdown, and to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Braden Q Scale for predicting skin breakdown in critically ill and injured children.


In addition to pressure ulcers, children experience diaper dermatitis, skin tears, and IV extravasations.

 


   Materials and Methods
Top
 Abstract
 Materials and Methods
Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Setting
This prospective cohort study was conducted in the PICU at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, a large tertiary care center in Milwaukee. The hospital’s institutional review board approved the research protocol. Consent from parents and assent of children were waived.

Sample and Study Period
Each patient admitted to the PICU from April 15 through July 15, 2005, was enrolled in the study; data were collected from April 15 through July 30, 2005, for every patient who remained in the PICU at the end of the study period. No patients were excluded from the study because our intention was to gain an understanding of the problem regardless of diagnosis, sex, race/ethnicity, age, or length of stay.


Higher risk of mortality was associated with development of skin breakdown or redness.

 

Data Collection
All data collected were entered in the Virtual PICU Performance System (VPS) database. Admission data included demographic characteristics: patient’s date of birth, age at admission, sex, race/ethnicity, medical record number, primary diagnosis, and admission and discharge dates. The PRISM 2 score was used to classify the severity of illness. This score is calculated on the basis of 14 separate physiological indicators collected during the first 24 hours of admission and is predictive of risk for mortaity.17 Follow-up data included secondary diagnoses, clinical and therapeutic characteristics (cardiac or respiratory arrest, nonin-vasive ventilatory support, mechanical ventilation, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, inotropic support, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), daily Braden Q scores (see AppendixGo), and documented skin breakdown (type and description). At the time of the study, PICU nurses did not use a standard grading scale for pressure ulcers. Instead, they indicated the location of skin breakdown on a graphic representation of a child and then described the area in the integumentary section of the flow sheet.


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  		Appendix The Braden Q Scale.

 

Younger children and those with a longer length of stay had higher rates of skin breakdown and redness.

 

Protocol
Each PICU nurse was required to attend an in-service review of the Braden Q Scale, its clinical applications, and appropriate documentation. Quick reference cards on the scale were placed in each chart to facilitate appropriate documentation. Before the study started, nursing flow sheets were updated to include more detailed assessment and intervention data. Skin assessments made by using the Braden Q Scale were completed by the nursing staff for each patient at the time of each admission and again every 24 hours throughout the PICU stay. Location and type of skin breakdown were documented on the flow sheet.

Data Analysis
For continuous variables, such as the PRISM 2 scores and PICU length of stay, means and standard deviations were calculated. The incidence of skin breakdown was calculated. The association between skin breakdown and potential risk factors (relative risk) and 95% confidence intervals were determined. Statistical significance was determined by using {chi}2 analysis. Unpaired t tests were used to compare the risk of mortality (based on PRISM 2 scores) and PICU length of stay between patients who did or did not have skin breakdown. Patterns of scores on the Braden Q Scale were described. Analyses were conducted by using SAS, version 8.2 (SAS Institute Inc, Cary, North Carolina), and SPSS, version 11.5 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, Illinois). P values less than .05 were considered significant for all statistical comparisons. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the simultaneous effects of multiple risk factors.


   Results
Top
 Abstract
 Materials and Methods
 Results
Discussion
 References
 
The study sample consisted of 401 distinct ICU stays for 373 patients (Table 1Go). During these 401 stays, skin breakdown occurred in 34 (8.5%), redness in 25 (6.2%), and breakdown and redness in 13 (3.2%) at some point during the stay; the overall incidence was 18%. In the univariate analysis, risk factors associated with skin breakdown or redness included age 2 years or younger, length of stay 4 days or longer, requirement for mechanical ventilation, and a respiratory diagnosis at admission (Table 2Go). A higher risk of mortality (based on PRISM 2 scores) also was associated with development of skin breakdown or redness: 12.3% in patients with skin breakdown or redness and 4.6% in those without (unpaired t test, P < .001).


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  		Table 1 Characteristics of the sample

 

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  		Table 2 Association of potential risk factors with skin breakdown or redness (univariate analysis)

 
Factors not associated with skin breakdown or redness included race/ethnicity, sex, requirement for bilevel positive airway pressure, and Braden Q score less than 16 (Table 2Go). We also evaluated surgical patients (both cardiac and noncardiac) and determined that surgery itself was not a risk factor for skin breakdown (Table 2Go). According to multivariate analysis, controlling for race/ethnicity, sex, and severity of illness (PRISM 2 score), age 2 years or younger and length of stay 4 days or longer were strongly associated with skin breakdown or redness (Table 3Go, model 1). These associations remained unaffected when use of mechanical ventilation in addition to race/ethnicity, sex, and severity of illness were controlled for (Table 3Go, model 2).


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  		Table 3 Association of potential risk factors with skin breakdown or redness (multivariate analysis)

 
At least one Braden Q score was entered at some time for 324 (81%) of the 401 ICU stays, and a Braden Q score was entered for 68% (1442/2121) of potential assessment days. On the first day of skin breakdown, the Braden Q score, which is predictive of pressure ulcers, was less than 16 in 8 of 31 ICU stays (25.8%). On the first day that the Braden Q score was less than 16, which is predictive of pressure ulcers, 9 out of 98 (9.2%) had skin breakdown and 2 of 98 (2.0%) had skin redness. We did not have sufficient data to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Braden Q score for predicting skin breakdown in critically ill and injured children.


   Discussion
Top
 Abstract
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
References
 
Skin integrity is a nurse-sensitive outcome, and in the critical care environment, skin breakdown is a substantial iatrogenic injury. In our study, the incidence of skin breakdown or redness was 18%, which is similar to previously reported data.11 Furthermore, younger age and longer stay in the PICU were associated with increased risk for skin breakdown or redness. Both of these risk factors have been previously identified.13 These characteristics should help nurses target their interventions to those children who are at higher risk for breakdown.

Our findings on skin integrity in critically ill and injured children differ from findings in other studies on hospitalized children. Previous researchers13,16 identified mechanical ventilation as a risk factor for skin breakdown. In our study, mechanical ventilation was significant in the univariate analysis but not in the multivariate analysis. In addition, our findings did not support white race/ethnicity as a significant risk factor for the development of skin breakdown or redness. We hypothesized that bilevel positive airway pressure would be a risk factor, but this hypothesis was not supported. Our sample size may have been too small to show these associations.

Our study had insufficient power to detect a statistically significant effect (relative risk) for some risk factors if we assume that the true relative risk is the one found in the study. For example, the power to detect a relative risk of 1.73 for bilevel positive airway pressure (Table 2Go) when the proportion of patients treated with bilevel positive airway pressure is 5% was only 0.34. The power to detect the relative risk of 1.41 for cardiac surgery, when the proportion of patients with cardiac surgery is 29%, was 0.18.


Among 401 PICU patients, overall incidence of skin breakdown was 18%.

 

Limitations of the study include missing data on Braden Q scores (because of a lack of adherence to the study protocol) and a lack of data on the pressure ulcer grading in those children who had skin breakdown or redness. Consequently, we could not evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of Braden Q scores for predicting development of pressure ulcers in critically ill and injured children. Although skin integrity has been identified as an important nurse-sensitive outcome measure,1 we hypothesize that skin assessment and comprehensive documentation may generally be a lower priority in the critical care environment, especially during the initial admission and stabilization phase.

Our findings helped identify several gaps in education and documentation within the PICU that were addressed after the results were analyzed. The PICU nurses had a knowledge deficit related to grading pressure ulcers, because no formal grading system was used within the unit. To address this need, we adopted the recommendations of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel18 (Table 4Go). An online self-study was developed to review the grading system for pressure ulcers and its clinical applications. Each nurse was required to complete the self-study and then a test to demonstrate basic competency. The nursing flow sheet did not include an area to document pressure ulcer grading or a sufficient area to document nursing interventions specifically related to skin care. The flow sheet was revised to address both of these needs, and documentation was reviewed during the annual nursing education day. The results of our study were communicated to the staff during staff meetings, and to improve compliance with documentation, members of the clinical practice committee conducted audits of the skin-related documentation.


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  		Table 4 Recommendations of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel for grading pressure ulcers18

 
Further research is needed on skin integrity to improve patients’ outcomes. In particular, the validity of the Braden Q Scale as a risk assessment tool in children after cardiac surgery and in other hospitalized children should be explored. Further research also is needed to evaluate the protective strategies that nurses are currently using to prevent skin breakdown. A multicenter study in collaboration with the PICU focus group of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions is in progress to address these concerns.


   ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
We gratefully acknowledge Dr Thomas B. Rice, chief of the Division of Critical Care Medicine, for his support. We also acknowledge the members of the PICU focus group of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions for identifying skin care in infants and children as an important research area. We thank our nursing colleagues at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for their continued work to improve the quality of care delivered in the PICU. Finally, we acknowledge the Department of Advanced Practice Nursing and Research for its support, with a special thanks to the director, Shelly Malin, RN, PHD, for her ongoing support of the project.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES
None reported.

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   REFERENCES
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 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

  1. American Nurses Association. Nursing Report Card for Acute Care. Washington, DC: American Nurses Association; 2005.
  2. Schue RM, Langemo DK. Pressure ulcer prevalence and incidence and a modification of the Braden Scale for a rehabilitation unit. J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs. 1998;25(1):36–43.[Medline]
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