Combining pressure injury and incontinence-associated dermatitis prevalence surveys: An effective protocol?

Incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) is a largely preventable skin injury that can occur following chronic skin exposure to urine and faeces as a result of incontinence. Limited data is available about the prevalence of IAD in the Australian acute care setting. In 2011, the facility combined the annual pressure injury (PI) prevalence survey with a survey to determine the prevalence of IAD. This paper examines the PI and IAD prevalence results from surveys before and after the introduction of the combined survey protocol. The surveys were conducted in a major acute care Australian hospital between 2009 and 2013, with PI only surveys conducted between 2009 and 2010, and the combined PI and IAD surveys undertaken from 2011 to 2013. Overall, PI point prevalence decreased from 12.8% (n = 500) in 2009 to 6.3% (n = 444) in 2013. IAD prevalence was first reported in the 2011 survey. IAD prevalence decreased from 10% (n = 376) in 2011, to 2.7% (n = 444) in 2013. Combining the PI and IAD survey protocols provided valuable and previously unknown IAD data. In addition, combining the surveys was accomplished without increased financial or staff resources, nor increased survey participation burden for patients. Key aspects of the combined protocol have subsequently been adopted by the facility as standard procedures for ongoing PI prevalence surveys