Validity of the Waterlow screening tool and risks for pressure injury in acute care

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the validity of the Waterlow screening tool in a cohort of internal medicine patients and to identify factors contributing to pressure injury.
Design: Longitudinal cohort study
Setting: A tertiary hospital in Brisbane, Australia
Participants: 274 patients admitted through the Emergency Department or outpatient clinics and expected to remain in hospital for at least three days were included in the study. The mean age was 65.3 years.
Interventions: Patients were screened on admission using the Waterlow screening tool. Every second day, their pressure ulcer status was monitored and recorded.
Main outcome measures: Pressure ulcer incidence
Results: Fifteen participants (5.5%) had an existing pressure ulcer and a further 12 (4.4%) developed a pressure ulcer during their hospital stay. Sensitivity of the Waterlow scale was 0.67, (95% CI: 0.35 to 0.88); specificity 0.79, (95% CI: 0.73 to 0.85); PPV 0.13, (95% CI: 0.07 to 0.24); NPV 0.98, (95% CI: 0.94 to 0.99).
Conclusion: This study provides further evidence of the poor predictive validity of the Waterlow scale. A suitably powered randomised controlled trial is urgently needed to provide definitive evidence about the usefulness of the Waterlow scale compared with other screening tools and with clinical judgement.