[Primary care of bedsores. Frequency and characteristics]

The number of patients afflicted by bedsores under the care of a Primary Health Clinic is not well-known. Nevertheless, it is a pathology directly related to nursing care and one which causes an important loss in patient's quality of life; it aggravates and inhibits the cure of other health problems; it increases suffering and morbidity; and, at the same time, it increases nursing care time as well as the costs of health care.

Under a widerange study carried out during the month of March, 1996, data from homecare patients suffering from bedsores was collected by means of a registration list sent to 305 Primary Health Care Clinic nurses in the province.

The 177 nurses who responded registered 107 patients with bedsores. 93.45% of these patients were older than 65. 234 bedsores were recorded. This means 2.19 findings per patient, 38.03% on heels and 21.79% on trochanters. 36.75% presented superficial necrosis and 24.36% evidenced profound necrosis. The average reading on the Norton Scale was 8.65 +/- 3.25 (mean +/- standard deviation).

The prevalence of Primary Health Care Clinic patients suffering from bedsores in the province of Cacers during the period studied swings from 4 to 6 patients for every 10,000 inhabitants and this value increases to between 22 and 26 for every 10,000 inhabitants over 65.