Pressure ulcer assessment instruments: a critical appraisal

Abstract

Numerous evaluation tools have been developed to document various aspects of wound status or appearance of pressure ulcers. These include the Pressure Sore Status Tool (PSST), Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH Tool), Sussman Wound Healing Tool (SWHT), Sessing scale, and the Wound Healing Scale (WHS). A critical appraisal of the literature was undertaken to examine the purpose and methods for the development of each instrument, the extent to which the instruments have been validated to date, the practicality of their use, and the work that remains to be done to establish their suitability for clinical and/or research purposes. All of these instruments have been developed to describe and evaluate change in pressure ulcer status over time with the exception of the WHS, which was developed as an alternative to reverse staging. More of the validation parameters have been addressed for the PSST and the Sessing scale than for the PUSH Tool, the SWHT, and the WHS. All of the instruments can be completed within approximately 5 minutes except the PSST, which requires 10 to 15 minutes to complete. For all instruments, experience with wounds and training in the use of the instrument are required to improve reliability. For each of the measurement instruments, suggestions are made that would complete necessary validation procedures and thus prepare the instruments for clinical and/or research purposes.