Abstract
The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to provide an overview of the prevalence of pressure ulcers (PU) in orthopaedic wards. A comprehensive, systematic search was conducted in different international electronic databases, such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Persian electronic databases such as Iranmedex, and Scientific Information Database (SID) using keywords extracted from Medical Subject Headings such as "Prevalence", "Pressure ulcer", "Pressure sore", and "Orthopaedics" from the earliest to February 1, 2023. The appraisal tool for cross-sectional studies (AXIS tool) evaluates the quality of the included studies. Finally, 11 studies were included in the final analysis. The results indicated that the prevalence of PU in orthopaedic departments was 18% (ES: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.10-0.26, Z = 4.53, I(2) : 99.09%). Although the odds ratio of PU was lower in men than women, it was not statistically significant (OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.74-1.11, Z = 0.95, I(2) : 17.4%, P = .34). Also, results showed the prevalence of PU was higher among studies with a sample size of more than 200 (ES: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.10-0.28, Z = 4.07, I(2) : 99.1%), Europe region (ES: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.14-0.26, Z = 6.7, I(2) : 93.0%) and prospective design (ES: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.18-0.27, Z = 9.47, I(2) : 83.3%) when compared with other sub-groups. In sum, considering the 18% prevalence of PU in the orthopaedic department, it is recommended to focus on detecting risk factors and design interventions to reduce PU in the patients admitted orthopaedic department.