The prevalence of pressure ulcers in Europe, what does the European data tell us: a systematic review

Objective: The main aim of this systematic review was to establish the prevalence of pressure ulcers (PU) within published studies from Europe.

Method: Using systematic review methodology, quantitative design studies which explored prevalence data and/or the epidemiology of PUs in Europe were considered. The primary outcome was PU prevalence. The search, conducted in April 2019, using Cochrane, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases, returned 3065 records, of which 79 met the inclusion criteria. Data were extracted using a pre-designed extraction tool, and validity analysis was undertaken using the Evidence-Based Librarianship (EBL) Critical Appraisal Checklist.

Results: We included 79 articles in this review. Across the studies, the median prevalence was 10.8% (standard deviation: 7%; range: 4.6-27.2%). The highest PU prevalence reported was from the Netherlands (27.2%; n=17,494 participants), and the lowest was reported from Finland (4.6%; n=629 participants). Almost 32.4% (n=151,195) of the PUs were category I and the most common site for PUs was the sacrum.

Conclusion: The prevalence data is consistently high. These data indicate the continued need for further resource allocation into PU prevention and management.