Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May;45(3):390-394.
doi: 10.1080/10790268.2020.1800965. Epub 2020 Aug 18.

Frequency of turning in bed at home in persons with chronic spinal cord injury

Fatma Eren  1   2 , Robert DeLuca  3 , Steven Kirshblum  1   2   3
Affiliations

Frequency of turning in bed at home in persons with chronic spinal cord injury

Fatma Eren et al. J Spinal Cord Med. 2022 May.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the routine turning frequency of persons with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) in bed at night in their home environment.Design: An online questionnaire consisting of 22 questions.Setting: Free standing SCI rehabilitation facility.Participants: Persons between ages 18-75 with a traumatic SCI for ≥3 months, and living at home.Interventions: None.Outcome measures: Questionnaire-based evaluation of turning frequency of persons with SCI.Results: 86 subjects (70 men) with traumatic SCI completed the survey; 66.3% with tetraplegia and 41.9% with a neurological complete SCI. Almost every participant (96%) recalled being counseled on the importance of turning in bed at night upon discharge from their rehabilitation facility with 48.4% recalling the frequency recommended as every 2 h. At present, 25.6% of subjects reported turning every 2 h, 15.1% every 3 h, 15.1% every 4 h, 3.5% every 6 h, and 40.7% of respondents stated that they do not turn regularly at night.Conclusion: Although frequently recommended for repositioning at night in bed every two hours for persons with chronic SCI, especially for those at risk for pressure injuries, only 25.6% of individuals report turning at this frequency and 40.7% report not turning at night time regularly. The reasons for limited turning may be multi-factorial, however, this finding may serve as a call to practitioners to best determine the most appropriate turning frequency that can meet compliance of the individual with SCI, as well as maintain skin protection in the chronic period after injury.

Keywords: Pressure injury; Repositioning; Spinal cord injury; Turning frequency.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of participants included in the study and in the analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Byrne DW, Salzberg CA.. Major risk factors for pressure ulcers in the spinal cord disabled: a literature review. Spinal Cord 1996;34(5):255–63. doi: 10.1038/sc.1996.46 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Marin J, Nixon J, Gorecki C.. A systematic review of risk factors for the development and recurrence of pressure ulcers in people with spinal cord injuries. Spinal Cord 2013;51(7):522–7. doi: 10.1038/sc.2013.29 - DOI - PubMed
    1. van der Wielen H, Post MWM, Lay V, Glasche K, Scheel-Sailer A.. Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers in spinal cord injured patients: time to occur, time until closure and risk factors. Spinal Cord 2016;54(9):726–31. doi: 10.1038/sc.2015.239 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Richard-Denis A, Thompson C, Bourassa-Moreau E, Parent S, Mac-Thiong JM.. Does the acute care spinal cord injury setting predict the occurrence of pressure ulcers at arrival to intensive rehabilitation centers? Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2016;95(4):300–8. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000000381 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Scheel-Sailer A, Wyss A, Boldt C, Post MW, Lay V.. Prevalence, location, grade of pressure ulcers and association with specific patient characteristics in adult spinal cord injury patients during the hospital stay: a prospective cohort study. Spinal Cord 2013;51(11):828–33. doi: 10.1038/sc.2013.91 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types