# AN RCT ON SUPPORT SURFACES FOR PRESSURE ULCER PREVENTION

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $652,010

## Abstract

Project Summary
Pressure injuries are a serious health care problem and affect millions of people. Most pressure
injuries are avoidable with the application of best practices and with the use of appropriate
technology. Support surfaces are a crucial component of any comprehensive prevention strategy.
Decades of research have produced moderate and low levels of evidence upon which to base clinical
decisions concerning how and when to apply support surfaces for prevention. This knowledge has
been periodically assessed and assembled into clinical practice guidelines. There is good evidence
that the combined group of active and reactive support surfaces is effective in preventing pressure
injuries and that high-specification reactive foam surfaces are effective in preventing pressure
injuries. But there is insufficient evidence that low air loss surfaces are more or less effective than
other types of surfaces. Yet, low air loss surfaces are used for more than 17% of patients in acute
care at high risk of developing pressure injuries. Our study is designed to determine if and when low
air loss is effective in preventing pressure injuries, and what level of heat and moisture control
performance is necessary for prevention effectiveness. The primary aim of the project is to compare
the effectiveness of reactive support surfaces with low air loss to reactive support surfaces without
low air loss in preventing pressure injuries for people with moisture risk factors in acute care. Support
surfaces are currently marketed and identified by practitioners based on device features (e.g., low air
loss, air fluidization, alternating pressure), categories (powered, non-powered, reactive, and active)
and components (e.g., foam, gel, fluid). A WOCN developed selection algorithm specifies support
surfaces based on categories and features. The critical performance characteristics of low air loss
systems are moisture, humidity and temperature management. Preliminary work has revealed that
these characteristics vary widely among different low air loss products. A secondary aim of the
proposed study is to explore associations between support surface performance characteristics and
pressure injury outcomes to identify which low air loss performance characteristics and what level of
those performance characteristics are necessary for the technology to be effective. Successful
completion of this project will fill a critical gap in evidence regarding the effectiveness of support
surfaces with low air loss, and could influence a shift in the way support surfaces are characterized
away from the current feature-based paradigm toward a more clinically relevant and generalizable
performance-based paradigm.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9948753
- **Project number:** 5R01NR016952-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** David Michael Brienza
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $652,010
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9948753

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9948753, AN RCT ON SUPPORT SURFACES FOR PRESSURE ULCER PREVENTION (5R01NR016952-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9948753. Licensed CC0.

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