EVALUATING PRESSURE ULCER OCCURRENCE IN LONG-TERM-CARE - PITFALLS IN INTERPRETING ADMINISTRATIVE

Administrative databases for long-term care frequently collect informa tion on fixed dates of the calendar year, rather than for entire episo des of care. Patients discarged or dying prior to an evaluation date a re lost to follow up. We used one such database, the VA Patient Assess ment File, to examine pressure ulcer occurrence in long-term care. Cli nical studies have established that most pressure ulcers develop durin g the first several weeks following admission. In these data, however, pressure ulcer development was less common in patients assessed withi n 2 months following admission, as compared to those examined at 3 to 6 months. This finding appears to be related to the selective discharg e of patients, which makes these patient populations noncomparable. Th ese results highlight that care must be exercised when interpreting re sults obtained from such administrative data.