Pressure relief capabilities of the Sof.Care bed and the Clinitron bed

The number of support surfaces marketed as pressure relieving devices has escalated during recent years and objective measures are needed to evaluate those that are effective. The purpose of this study was to compare the pressure relief capabilities of a special three-layered plastic air mattress (Sof.Care Bed Cushion--Gaymar), an air-fluidized bed (Clinitron--Support Systems International) and a standard hospital mattress. Sixty-four volunteers served as their own control as they were rotated onto the three sleep surfaces. Tissue interface pressure measurements were taken over bony prominences where pressure ulcers are most likely to occur: the sacrum, the greater trochanter of the femur and the heels. A one-way analysis of variance was computed for interface measurement scores by type of surface and a statistically significant difference was found among the three surfaces. A Newman-Keuls test was employed to compare the mean scores between two groups at a time. Both the Sof.Care Cushion and the Clinitron Bed differed significantly from the hospital mattress in the ability to relieve pressure. There was no statistical difference between the Sof.Care Cushion and the Clinitron Bed in the ability to relieve pressure over the sacrum, trochanter, or heels. However tissue pressure readings under the heels were greater than 32 mm Hg on both the Clinitron and Sof.Care surfaces. The data from this study, by looking at a larger sample supports our prior findings.