Use of the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk© at a school for learners with special needs

Abstract

Children with physical disabilities face numerous daily challenges. They might suffer ridicule and rejection from peers based on their appearance, or the way in which they talk and walk. They also face the possible occurrence of co-morbid medical conditions as a result of poor relay of information, or lack of assessment. This would further impact their compromised quality of life. In 2010, as an occupational therapist (OT) at a special needs school, I encountered two wheelchair-bound spinal cord injury (SCI) learners who had been suffering from pressure-related ulcers for more than a year. This was due to ignorance about the pressure ulcer (PU) formation mechanism.¹ Attempts to address this led to use of the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk (the Braden Scale) to predict and prevent PU development in six SCI learners, after which its efficacy was assessed.^1,2