Skin tears cause pain, increased length of stay, increased costs, and reduced quality of life. Minimal research reports the association between skin tears, and malnutrition using robust measures of nutritional status. This study aimed to articulate the association between malnutrition and skin tears in hospital inpatients using a yearly point prevalence of inpatients included in the Queensland Patient Safety Bedside Audit, malnutrition audits and skin tear audits conducted at a metropolitan tertiary hospital between 2010 and 2015. Patients were excluded if admitted to mental health wards or were <18 years. A total of 2197 inpatients were included, with a median age of 71 years. The overall prevalence of skin tears was 8.1%. Malnutrition prevalence was 33.5%. Univariate analysis demonstrated associations between age (P ˂ .001), body mass index (BMI) (P < .001) and malnutrition (P ˂ .001) but not gender (P = .319). Binomial logistic regression analysis modelling demonstrated that malnutrition diagnosed using the Subjective Global Assessment was independently associated with skin tear incidence (odds ratio, OR: 1.63; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.13-2.36) and multiple skin tears (OR 2.48 [95% CI 1.37-4.50]). BMI was not independently associated with skin tears or multiple skin tears. This study demonstrated independent associations between malnutrition and skin tear prevalence and multiple skin tears. It also demonstrated the limitations of BMI as a nutritional assessment measure.

Hospital-acquired skin tear prevalence is under-reported; thus, the aim of this study was to analyse skin tear point prevalence and characteristics in a tertiary acute care hospital in Queensland, Australia, over a 10-year period. All consenting adult inpatients received a full skin inspection and skin tear category, site, cause, treatment, and whether it was documented as hospital-or community-acquired were recorded. Eleven prevalence audits were analysed with a total sample of 3626 patients. An overall pooled prevalence of 8.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.5-10.4) with an associated hospital-acquired pooled prevalence of 5.5% (95% CI 4.5-6.7) was found. In total, 616 skin tears were reported, of which 374 (60.7%) were hospital-acquired. Over a third of patients (38.7%) had multiple skin tears and most patients (84.8%) with at least one skin tear were aged ≥70 years. The largest proportion of skin tears (40.1%) was those with no skin flap. Of those documented, most were caused by falls or collisions, suggesting combined skin tear and falls prevention strategies may be effective. Over a decade, there was a downward trend in hospitalacquired skin tear, which is encouraging. Skin tear prevalence is recommended as a measure of care quality with an emphasis on good quality documentation.

Background: Chronic venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are costly to the healthcare system and a burden to patients, significantly reducing quality of life. Nitric oxide (NO) is important to wound healing, with a small study demonstrating a NO donor, topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), was effective for VLU healing. The aim of this study is to examine the application of topical GTN in relation to VLU healing. Methods: A pilot double-blinded randomised controlled clinical trial will be undertaken. Participants in the control group (n=20) will receive a placebo ointment (ointment base) and participants in the treatment group (n=20) will receive a NO donor (base ointment with 2% GTN) weekly for 4 weeks. The inclusion criteria will be adults >18 years of age with a chronic VLU. Rate of healing will be determined by planimetry (ulcer tracing) using the Gillman equation. Significance: This clinical trial aims to provide proof of concept of a novel treatment, topical GTN, which may accelerate wound healing through improvements to vasodilation and antimicrobial properties at the wound bed.