On October 23 , at the University of Alicante took place the dissertation of the thesis “Cultural adaptation and validation of the scale for pressure ulcers risk assessment in hospitalized children (Neonatal Skin Risk Assessment Scale) developed by Dr. Pablo García Molina, neonatology nurse and professor in the Department of Nursing at the University of Valencia, member of the Advisory Committee of GNEAUPP. The thesis was supervised by Professor José Verdú Soriano, and co-directed by Dr. Francisco P. García Fernández, member of the research group CuiDsalud.
This PhD thesis is related with the research topic Chronic wounds of our group, and is due to the close scientific collaboration with the Spanish Pressure Ulcers and Chronic Wounds Advisory Group (GNEAUPP, for its Spanish name). This piece of research represents a new advance in knowledge for the prevention of these injuries among newborns requiring hospitalization. Dr. Pablo Garcia has been a pioneer in studying the problem of pressure ulcers in children and neonates and highlight the importance of prevention (web PU Pediatrics).
The research project for the validation of the Spanish version of the scale NSRAS has lasted for four years. With participation of children units and neonatal intensive care units belonging to 8 hospitals (in the validation phase of reliability) and to 6 hospitals (in the phase of clinical validation), which makes this validation study of PU risk scales the strongest one performed in Spain and a good example of the methodology. As a result, it has been obtained a Spanish version of the NSRAS scale with high reliability and validity for assessing the PU risk in neonates. Additionally, the study has found that the days of hospital stay and, above all, non-invasive mechanical ventilation are the factors that increase the risk of UPP in neonates.
This PhD thesis will be soon available in the web Repository of the Universidad de Alicante (enlace).
