The role of daily activities in pressure ulcer development

YOLO-Based Deep Learning Model for Pressure Ulcer Detection and Classification

Pressure ulcers are significant healthcare concerns affecting millions of people worldwide, particularly those with limited mobility. Early detection and classification of pressure ulcers are crucial in preventing their progression and reducing associated morbidity and mortality. In this work, we present a novel approach that uses YOLOv5, an advanced and robust object detection model, to detect and classify pressure ulcers into four stages and non-pressure ulcers. We also utilize data augmentation techniques to expand our dataset and strengthen the resilience of our model. Our approach shows promising results, achieving an overall mean average precision of 76.9% and class-specific mAP50 values ranging from 66% to 99.5%. Compared to previous studies that primarily utilize CNN-based algorithms, our approach provides a more efficient and accurate solution for the detection and classification of pressure ulcers. The successful implementation of our approach has the potential to improve the early detection and treatment of pressure ulcers, resulting in better patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs.

The potential of virtual reality and gaming to assist successful aging with disability

Using the advances in computing power, software and hardware technologies, virtual reality (VR), and gaming applications have the potential to address clinical challenges for a range of disabilities. VR-based games can potentially provide the ability to assess and augment cognitive and motor rehabilitation under a range of stimulus conditions that are not easily controllable and quantifiable in the real world. This article discusses an approach for maximizing function and participation for those aging with and into a disability by combining task-specific training with advances in VR and gaming technologies to enable positive behavioral modifications for independence in the home and community. There is potential for the use of VR and game applications for rehabilitating, maintaining, and enhancing those processes that are affected by aging with and into disability, particularly the need to attain a balance in the interplay between sensorimotor function and cognitive demands and to reap the benefits of task-specific training and regular physical activity and exercise.

Qualitative study of principles pertaining to lifestyle and pressure ulcer risk in adults with spinal cord injury

PURPOSE

The aim of this article is to identify overarching principles that explain how daily lifestyle considerations affect pressure ulcer development as perceived by adults with spinal cord injury (SCI).

METHOD

Qualitative in-depth interviews over an 18-month period with 20 adults with spinal injury and a history of pressure ulcers were conducted using narrative and thematic analyses.

RESULTS

Eight complexly interrelated daily lifestyle principles that explain pressure ulcer development were identified: perpetual danger; change/disruption of routine; decay of prevention behaviors; lifestyle risk ratio; individualization; simultaneous presence of prevention awareness and motivation; lifestyle trade-off; and access to needed care, services and supports.

CONCLUSIONS

Principles pertaining to the relationship between in-context lifestyle and pressure ulcer risk underscore previous quantitative findings, but also lead to new understandings of how risk unfolds in everyday life situations. Pressure ulcer prevention for community-dwelling adults with SCI can potentially be enhanced by incorporating principles, such as the decay of prevention behaviors or lifestyle trade-off, that highlight special patterns indicative of elevated risk. The identified principles can be used to theoretically drive future research or to guide innovative lifestyle-focused intervention approaches. Public policies that promote short-term preventive interventions at critical junctures throughout a person's life should be considered.

Intervention studies for prevention of pressure ulcers in Turkey: a literature review

AIM

To examine critically the literature published in the Turkish language (1955-2004) related to risk assessment tool(s), their application to nursing care and prevention of pressure ulcers (PrUs). Specific objectives were to identify the advantages of risk assessment and prevention of PrUs in hospital; to establish the most valid and reliable methods available to evaluate the effectiveness of PrU prevention programmes; to determine methodological problems encountered by researchers and explore how these were overcome; and to present the findings so they could be used to develop a valid and reliable audit tool based upon the empirical evidence.

METHODS

All journals and convention booklets published in Turkey related to nursing between the years 1955-2004 were examined. Because many journals in Turkey are not yet available by electronic means, the published Turkish articles were all examined by hand. A total of 3031 articles in 17 nursing journals and 36 congress books (convention booklets) were examined. Five articles were found to meet the study criteria and were taken into the study and evaluated.

CONCLUSION

There is a need to determine valid and reliable assessment methods, and the results need to be recorded on standard forms. In addition, it is important to increase the motivation of nursing personnel who give direct patient care to use the tools available in order to prevent the development of PrUs. From the review findings it is apparent that in Turkey, there is a dearth of research evidence upon which to base practice in the sphere of PrU prevention, and further research is urgently required.

Spinal Cord Injury and Pressure Ulcers

The SCI person is at high risk for pressure ulcers; thus, pressure ulcer prevention is a critical component of care. Guidelines exist to promote evidenced-based practice for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in the SCI. There is a discrepancy between what persons with SCI know about pressure ulcer prevention and what they are doing to reduce their risk of developing this serious complication. Objective data demonstrate that adherence to a skin care regimen contributes to the prevention of pressure ulcers. Knowledge about pressure ulcer prevention and treatment must be appropriately focused for the patient, family, and the health care team and must be reinforced over time.