Risk factors for pressure injuries in individuals with spinal cord injuries who have sarcopenic obesity: A comparison of time-dependent changes in sacral region pressure between individuals with and without sarcopenic obesity

Abstract

Objective

To identify the risk factors for pressure injuries in individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) who have sarcopenic obesity, comparing time-dependent changes in sacral region pressure in individuals with and without sarcopenic obesity.

Design

An experimental time series study.

Setting

Single-center hospital.

Participants

Twenty-five adult participants with subacute and chronic paraplegia who visited our rehabilitation center, Republic of Korea, between May 2021 and June 2022.

Interventions

Whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was performed to diagnose sarcopenic obesity. After the participants were placed in the supine position for 1 hour, the average pressure (mmHg), peak pressure (mmHg), and total contact area (cm²) of the sacral region were measured using the pressure-mapping system.

Results

Compared with the non-sarcopenic obesity group, the sarcopenic obesity group showed significant before-and-after differences in peak pressure. Furthermore, the risk factors that were significantly associated with peak pressure in the sarcopenic obesity group were the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale score and the fat mass index.

Conclusion

Among participants with SCIs, the risk of pressure injuries is higher in the sarcopenic obesity group than in the non-sarcopenic obesity group. Notably, the risk of pressure injuries increases in participants who have complete injury and an increased fat mass index, indicating the importance of close monitoring and more active management to prevent pressure injuries in this subpopulation.

Keywords:

• Spinal cord injury
• Paraplegia
• pressure injury
• Sarcopenic obesity

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all the individuals who participated in this research.

Disclaimer statements

Funding This research was supported by a grant from the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea under Grant HK23C0002.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Unblinded Ethics Statement

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of National Rehabilitation Center (IRB No. NRC-2021-03-028).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a grant from the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea [grand number: HK23C0002].