Pressure Ulcers Occur More Often in Black Nursing Home Residents

Pressure ulcers contribute adversely to morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs among nursing home residents. Starting in 2002, local, state, and national initiatives have focused on lowering risk for pressure ulcers, but the effects of such initiatives on known racial disparities are unclear. Researchers used statistics from a mandated national database that contains information on all federally certified nursing homes to assess pressure-ulcer prevalence in 2.1 million white and 347,000 black nursing home residents from 2003 through 2008.

Residents were categorized as low- or high-risk, based on cognitive, medical, and psychiatric comorbidities. In high-risk residents, the prevalence of stage 2 or worse pressure ulcers dropped significan…