Prevenção de agravos em pacientes com Skin Tears: uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Skin tears is the English name for skin tears (Tears of the skin), a type of traumatic wound that mainly affects the elderly and is related to the fragility of the skin in this age group. They are little known by health professionals, leading to a shortage of epidemiological studies; and consequently, recommendations and follow-up of the main preventive measures. The study aimed to characterize the studies on Skin tears in relation to the prevalence and risk factors and to establish recommendations for the prevention of the disease. It is an integrative literature review research, whose objectives were to characterize the studies on Skin Tears in relation to the prevalence and risk factors and to establish recommendations for the prevention of this disease. A search was performed in the VHL, Medline databases via Pubmed and Cinahl and 3 studies were chosen. The prevalence ranged from 3.3% to 28.7%; the risk factors common to the articles were advanced age, hospitalization/institutionalization, polypharmacy, the presence of comorbidities and decreased cognitive function. The recommended preventive measures were the systematization of nursing care and evidencebased practice; handling, transfer and positioning; bathing, skin care, nutrition and hydration and health education. It is concluded that there is still a shortage of research in this field, which denotes the importance of investment in nursing.