Objective: Pressure ulcers (PUs) severely impact health outcomes in neonatal intensive care, with up to 28% prevalence and doubled mortality rates. Due to their only partially developed stratum corneum, neonates are highly susceptible to PUs because of a lack of adequate support surfaces. The occipital region of the head and hip are the main risk areas due to immobility and newborn body proportions. The main goal of the study was to investigate the impact of reduction in local pressure in these body areas by two air mattress designs and different filling states.
Method: Two innovative air-filled mattress prototypes (prototype 1 and prototype 2), consisting of three different segments (head, trunk and feet regions), were developed to reduce local interface pressures by optimising pressure distribution, and were assessed with three air pressure filling states (0.2kPa, 0.4kPa and 0.6kPa). A baby doll was used to investigate pressure distribution and local pressure impact. It measured 51cm and the weight was modified to be 1.3kg, 2.3kg and 3.3kg, representing premature to term newborn weights, respectively. A specialised foam mattress and an unsupported surface were considered as controls.
Results: The interface pressures at the hip region for newborn models could be reduced by up to 41% with mattress prototype 1 and 49% with prototype 2 when filled with 0.2kPa air pressure. It was found that the size and the pressure inside air segments was crucial for interface pressure.
Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that air mattresses achieved lower interface pressures compared to conventional support surfaces, and that the benefit of the air mattresses depended on their filling status. The importance of using innovative, segmented designs that were tailored to meet the specific needs of highly vulnerable paediatric patients was demonstrated.