ABSTRACT

Objective: This is a retrospective study to determine how much the pressure distribution adjustment of a wheelchair cushion using a pressure image sensor actually affects the prevention of pressure injury, which is a major complication in patients with a spinal cord injury. Methods: This study was conducted on 132 patients with a spinal cord injury with an onset of less than 1 year. The study group proceeded using their own wheelchair cushion when adjusting the pressure distribution of the cushion, and were classified into 66 patients who could continue to use the wheelchair cushion, the pressure of which was adjusted according to the individual. The control group was divided into 66 patients who were unable to continue to use an adjusted wheelchair cushion for various reasons. All subjects investigated the occurrence and timing of a pressure injury once every 1 and 2 years after adjusting the pressure distribution of the wheelchair cushion. According to these results, the incidence and timing of a pressure injury in the two groups were compared and analyzed to determine the effect of the adjustment of the pressure distribution of the wheelchair cushion on the prevention of pressure injury in patients with a spinal cord injury. All statistical significance levels in the data were set to p < .05. Results: Although the difference in the probability of occurrence of a pressure injury between the experiment and the control groups was insignificant (p < .05), the comparison results between the two groups on the timing of the pressure injury showed a significant difference (p < .05). Conclusion: It was difficult to continuously maintain the effect of preventing pressure injury by only adjusting the pressure distribution of the wheelchair cushion once. However, if maintenance can be continued in a timely manner, the present approach can be suggested as an extremely good method for the future prevention and management of pressure injuries in patients after a spinal cord injury.