OBJECTIVES: To describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients under home care in a health district of Ribeirao Preto and to determine their risks for pressure ulcers, the use of preventive measures, and prevalence and characteristics of pressure ulcers. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with 47 patients. RESULTS: The age of the participants ranged from 21 to 91 years. The majority of them was whites (85%), elderly (76.6%), dependent of caregivers (91.5%), and were at risk for pressure ulcers (70.2%). There was 19.1% of prevalence of pressure ulcers. There were 17 pressure ulcers, in which 35.3% were at stage I and 29.4% were at stage IV. The trochanter of the femur (29.4%) and calcaneous (23.5%) were the anatomic regions that pressure ulcers occurred more often. The majority of patients did not use measures for preventing pressure ulcers. CONCLUSION: Since the majority of patients were at risk for pressure ulcers, there is a need for educational interventions to patients and home care services.
Pressure Ulcers; Home Care; Prevalence
