Knowledge and attitudes of health professionals towards pressure ulcers at a rehabilitation hospital: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND Pressure ulcers are common conditions among hospitalized patients and impose substantial burden on patients and their caregivers. To assess the knowledge and attitudes of health professionals towards PUs prevention. METHODS A cross-sectional study was performed in the rehabilitation hospital at King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2014. The study population consisted of nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and physical medicine rehabilitation physicians who have a minimum of at least one year of clinical practice. The survey that was created for use in this study consisted of demographic characteristics, Pressure Ulcers Knowledge Test and Staff Attitude Scale. RESULTS The survey was completed by 105 participants of the 120 total eligible staff. The mean knowledge score of correct answers from all participants was 34.1 ± 4.8 (71.5 %). Only 77(73.3 %) participants had a mean knowledge score of ≥ 70 %. The mean attitude score was 30.5 (56.5 %). The study revealed that age and profession factors had a significant relationship with participants' mean knowledge of PUs prevention (P < 0.001), (P < 0.001) respectively. Moreover, 101 (98.1 %) participants are concerned about PUs prevention in their practices. While, 11 (10.7 %) of participants believe that PUs prevention is a time consuming procedure. CONCLUSIONS The present study assessed the current knowledge and attitudes of health professionals regarding PUs prevention in an acute rehabilitation hospital. The majority of participants had an average level of knowledge and exhibited unsatisfactory attitudes towards PUs prevention. Increased health professionals awareness may improve their attitudes towards PUs prevention.