Assessing Pressure Ulcer Knowledge of General and Orthopedic Surgical Residents Using the Pieper Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test

Abstract

Objective

To determine the knowledge of postgraduate and non-postgraduate general and orthopedic surgical residents regarding pressure ulcer (PU) prevention, staging and wound description.

Study Design

Cross sectional, descriptive survey.

Place and Duration of Study

Six major tertiary care hospitals in India, from Sep-2018 to Nov-2018.

Methodology

All consenting postgraduate and non-postgraduate general and orthopedic surgical residents were included in the study using convenience sampling. An adapted version of Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test (PUKT) comprising of 47-true/false items was used as a research tool. For every correct response, 1 point was awarded. Whereas, an incorrect or NK response was scored as 0. All the data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21.

Results

A total of 126 trainees comprising 120 (95.23%) males and 6 (4.76%) females participated in the study. The average PUKT score obtained by the surgical residents was 30.2+3.7 (65.65%), thus indicating a “low” level of knowledge.

Conclusion

The current levels of knowledge regarding PU prevention among the surgical residents in our study was “low”. The authors recommend continuous education for PU prevention in a hospital care setting.