Pressure ulcer definitions and core curricula—how does this affect wound care and the older patient?

Chronic wounds are associated with a significant patient, healthcare and financial burden and can have extensive implications for healthcare. Age is a significant risk factor for developing chronic wounds due to the physical changes in skin integrity that is associated with age and several age-related complex comorbidities including poor nutrition and mobility, which make them more common in this patient group. Pressure ulcers (PU) are a common type of chronic wound that can have a substantial impact on health-related quality of life and patient outcomes. Understanding the extent of PU harm is problematic due to discrepancies in the definition, recording and reporting of PU on both a local and national level. Education and training are central to ensuring the risk factors associated with PU development are recognised and a consistent and coherent structure to the definition, measurement and reporting of PUs across the NHS is developed.