***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE To develop a checklist of items measuring the quality of reports of r and omized clinical trials ( RCTs ) assessing nonpharmacological treatments ( NPTs ) . STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING The Delphi consensus method was used to select and reduce the number of items in the checklist . A total of 154 individuals were invited to participate : epidemiologists and statisticians involved in the field of methodology of RCTs ( n = 55 ) , members of the Cochrane Collaboration ( n = 41 ) , and clinicians involved in planning NPT clinical trials ( n = 58 ) . Participants ranked on a 10-point Likert scale whether an item should be included in the checklist . RESULTS Fifty-five experts ( 36 % ) participated in the survey . They were experienced in systematic review s ( 68 % were involved in the Cochrane Collaboration ) and in planning RCTs ( 76 % ) . Three rounds of the Delphi method were conducted to achieve consensus . The final checklist contains 10 items and 5 subitems , with items related to the st and ardization of the intervention , care provider influence , and additional measures to minimize the potential bias from lack of blinding of participants , care providers , and outcome assessors . CONCLUSIONS This tool can be used to critically appraise the medical literature , design NPT studies , and assess the quality of trial reports included in systematic review A comparison of pressure reducing properties of alternating air , static air , and water mattress overlays was conducted with 57 patients in a surgical intensive care unit . Sacral and heel pressures in both recumbent and semi-Fowler 's positions were tested for each surface using a repeated measures design . Mean pressures for the alternating air mattress were significantly higher than pressures with other surfaces , regardless of position or site . There were significant main effects for position and site , with higher pressures in the semi-Fowler 's position and at the sacral site . A significant interaction between surface , site , and position was found . Pressure sores developed in eight patients , but the incidence was not significantly different across groups . A pressure measuring device constructed from available clinical material s proved to be both sensitive and reliable . The findings suggest alternating air overlays should be avoided , and that positioning and periodic position change to reduce sacral pressures for patients requiring prolonged upper body elevation is important OBJECTIVE To estimate the effectiveness of a new high-performance Australian medical sheepskin ( meeting Australian St and ard 4480.1 - 1998 ) in preventing pressure ulcers in a general hospital population at low to moderate risk of these ulcers . DESIGN Open-label r and omised controlled clinical trial . SETTING A large metropolitan teaching hospital in Melbourne , Victoria , in 2000 . PARTICIPANTS 441 patients aged over 18 years admitted between 12 June and 30 November 2000 , with expected length of stay over 2 days and assessed as at low to moderate risk of developing pressure ulcers . INTERVENTION Patients were r and omly allocated to receive a sheepskin mattress overlay for the duration of their hospital stay ( 218 patients ) or usual treatment , as determined by ward staff ( referent group , 223 patients ) . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Incidence rate and cumulative incidence of pressure ulcers , assessed daily throughout hospital stay . RESULTS 58 patients developed pressure ulcers ( sheepskin group , 21 ; referent group , 37 ) . Cumulative incidence risk was 9.6 % in the sheepskin group ( 95 % CI , 6.1%-14.3 % ) versus 16.6 % in the referent group ( 95 % CI , 12.0%-22.1 % ) . Patients in the sheepskin group developed new pressure ulcers at a rate less than half that of referent patients ( rate ratio , 0.42 ; 95 % CI , 0.26 - 0.67 ) . CONCLUSIONS The Australian Medical Sheepskin is effective in reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers in general hospital in patients at low to moderate risk of these ulcers Pressure sores are a frequent problem , especially in elderly patients . Nutritional status may influence the incidence , progression and severity of pressure sores , data , however , are contradictory ( 1 ) . The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of supplemental feeding on the nutritional status and the development and severity of pressure sores . The effect of supplemental feeding overnight ( tube + ) on patients with a fracture of the hip and a high pressure-sore risk score , was studied in a r and omized clinical trial . The control group ( tube - ) had no supplemental feeding . After informed consent , 140 patients were r and omized , and 129 of these took part in the trial ( 62 tube + , and 67 tube - ) .  Protein and energy intake , haemoglobin , serum albumin , total serum protein and pressure-sore grade were measured at admission and after 1 and 2 weeks . Of the 62 patients r and omized for tube feeding ( tube + ) , only 25 tolerated their tube for more than 1 week and 16 for 2 weeks . Nevertheless , energy and protein intake was significantly higher in the tube + group ( P < 0.001 ) . This , however , did not significantly influence total serum protein , serum albumin and development and severity of pressure sores after 1 and 2 weeks . Comparison of the actually tube fed group ( n=25 at 1 week , n = 16 at 2 weeks ) and the control group showed a 2 - 3 times higher protein and energy intake ( P < 0.0001 ) , and a significantly higher total serum protein and serum albumin after 1 and 2 weeks in the actually tube fed group ( all P < 0.001 ) . Pressure-sore development and severity were not significantly influenced in the actually tube fed group . We conclude that we were not able to show a significant decrease in development and severity of pressure sores , because the nasogastric tube for supplemental feeding was not well tolerated in this patient group . Nevertheless , tube feeding overnight does result in a significant higher protein and energy intake , and has a significant effect on nutritional status in the actually tube-fed group . Other means of supplemental feeding will have to be used in order to answer the question of whether supplemental feeding can decrease development and severity of pressure sores 59 elderly patients ( mean age 82 ) with femoral neck fractures were r and omised into two groups . 27 patients received daily an oral nutrition supplement ( 250 ml , 20 g protein , 254 kcal ) for a mean of 32 days ; 32 patients acted as controls . On admission most patients had nutritional deficiencies . Despite being offered adequate quantities , nutritional requirements were not met during the hospital stay . Clinical outcome was significantly better in the supplemented group ( 56 % favourable course vs 13 % in controls ) during the stay in the convalescent hospital . The rates of complications and deaths were also significantly lower in supplemented patients ( 44 % vs 87 % ) . 6 months after the fracture the rates of complications and mortality were significantly lower in supplemented patients ( 40 % vs 74 % ) . The median duration of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the supplemented group ( 24 vs 40 days ) . Thus the clinical outcome of elderly patients with femoral neck fracture can be improved by once daily dietary oral supplementation Six hundred patients at risk for pressure sores were r and omized in either a control group or one of two experimental groups placed on alternating-pressure air-mattresses and water-mattresses . The groups remained comparable throughout the 10-day study period . Twenty-one patients from the control group developed decubitus ulcers , compared with 7 in each of the other groups . Patient and ward personnel opinions on the acceptability of the three types of mattresses were registered OBJECTIVES To examine skin health outcomes of an exercise and incontinence intervention . DESIGN R and omized controlled trial with blinded assessment s of outcomes at three points over 8 months . SETTING Four nursing homes ( NHs ) . PARTICIPANTS One hundred ninety incontinent NH residents . INTERVENTION In the intervention group , research staff provided exercise and incontinence care every 2 hours from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ( total of four daily care episodes ) 5 days a week for 32 weeks . The control group received usual care from NH staff . MEASUREMENTS Perineal skin wetness and skin health outcomes ( primarily blanchable erythema and pressure ulcers ) as measured by direct assessment s by research staff , urinary and fecal incontinence frequency , and percentage of behavioral observations with resident engaged in st and ing or walking . RESULTS Intervention subjects were significantly better in urinary and fecal incontinence , physical activity , and skin wetness outcome measures than the control group . However , despite these improvements , differences in skin health measures were limited to the back distal perineal area , which included the sacral and trochanter regions . There was no difference between groups in the incidence rate of pressure ulcers as measured by research staff , even though those residents who improved the most on fecal incontinence showed improvement in pressure ulcers in one area . CONCLUSION A multifaceted intervention improved four risk factors related to skin health but did not translate into significant improvements in most measures of skin health . Even if they had adequate staffing re sources , NHs might not be able to improve skin health quality indicators significantly if they attempt to implement preventive interventions on all residents who are judged at risk because of their incontinence status Pressure sores are a problem , especially in elderly patients . Our study was design ed to determine the effectiveness in pressure-sore prevention of a new interface-pressure decreasing mattress . In a prospect i ve r and omised controlled clinical trial we tested the Comfortex DeCube mattress ( Comfortex , Winona , USA ) against our st and ard hospital mattress in 44 patients with femoral-neck fracture and concomitant high pressure-sore risk score . In addition both groups were treated according to the Dutch consensus protocol for the prevention of pressure sores . On admission and 1 and 2 weeks after admission , pressure sores were grade d. The two groups were similar in patient characteristics and pressure-sore risk factors . At 1 week , 25 % of the patients nursed on the DeCube mattress and 64 % of the patients nursed on the st and ard mattress had clinical ly relevant pressure sores ( grade 2 or more ) . At 2 weeks the figures were 24 % and 68 % , respectively . The maximum score over the several body regions of the pressure-sore grading , measured on a 5-point sale , was significantly different in favour of the DeCube mattress at 1 week ( p = 0.0043 ) and 2 weeks ( p = 0.0067 ) postoperatively . We show that the occurrence of pressure sores and their severity can be significantly reduced when patients at risk are nursed on an interface-pressure decreasing mattress OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of in-hospital pressure ulcer development on mortality among older , high-risk , hospitalized patients up to 1 year post-hospital discharge , after adjusting for baseline patient characteristics , disease severity , hospital complications , and discharge activity level . DESIGN A prospect i ve , inception , cohort study . SETTING An urban , tertiary , acute care , university teaching hospital . PATIENTS A total of 286 patients aged 55 or older , expected to be confined to bed or chair for at least 5 days , who were admitted to the hospital without a Stage 2 or greater pressure ulcer . MEASUREMENTS The primary outcome measurement was time to death from admission to 1-year post-hospital discharge . Baseline information included demographic , medical , functional , and nutritional variables known to be associated with increased mortality . Measures of global disease severity and co-morbidity included the admitting physician 's estimate of illness severity and life expectancy , the acute physiology score of APACHE II , the Co-morbidity Damage Index , and the Medicus Nursing Classification Score . Baseline infections , incident infections , and noninfectious hospital complications were determined . Functional activity level was determined at hospital discharge . Post-discharge vital status was determined by telephone interviews at 3,6,9 , and 12 months after discharge and confirmed by death certificate review . MAIN RESULTS Development of an in-hospital pressure ulcer was associated with greater risk of death at 1 year ( 59.5 % vs 38.2 % , P = .02 ) . However , pressure ulcer development did not remain independently associated with decreased survival after adjusting for other predictors of mortality . Predictors of mortality at hospital admission by multivariate Cox regression analysis included weight loss in the 6 months before admission ( RR 2.4 , CI 1.6 , 3.6 ) , physician estimate of life expectancy ( RR 2.1 , CI 1.7 , 2.6 ) , and the Co-morbidity Damage Index ( RR 1.1 , CI 1.0 , 1.2 ) . Multivariate predictors of 1-year mortality at discharge included physician estimate of life expectancy ( RR 2.2 , CI 1.8,2.6 ) , weight loss in the 6 months before admission ( RR 2.2 , CI 1.5,3.2 ) , remaining confined to bed or chair ( RR 1.9 , CI 1.2,3.1 ) , and the total number of hospital complications ( RR 1.3 , CI 1.2,1.5 ) . CONCLUSIONS Pressure ulcers that develop during acute hospitalization are not associated with reduced 1-year survival among high risk older persons after adjusting for nutritional and functional status , global measures of disease severity and co-morbidity , and noninfectious hospital complications This study had three aims : to investigate if visco-elastic foam mattresses are more effective 
    Output:
    
Effective strategies that addressed impaired mobility included the use of support surfaces , mattress overlays on operating tables , and specialized foam and specialized sheepskin overlays .
While repositioning is a mainstay in most pressure ulcer prevention protocol s , there is insufficient evidence to recommend specific turning regimens for patients with impaired mobility .
In patients with nutritional impairments , dietary supplements may be beneficial .
The incremental benefit of specific topical agents over simple moisturizers for patients with impaired skin health is unclear .
Given current evidence , using support surfaces , repositioning the patient , optimizing nutritional status , and moisturizing sacral skin are appropriate strategies to prevent pressure ulcers .