Pressure ulcers are common and result in serious medical complications, prolonged hospital stay and frequent readmissions. With a rapidly ageing population and increasing chronic disease burden in Singapore, the prevalence of pressure ulcers will increase further. Family physicians will encounter more pressure ulcers in their practices in the primary, intermediate and long term care settings. We conducted a comprehensive literature review on established evidence on pressure ulcer risk assessment and prevention, and also reviewed current hospital protocols in Singapore. We found that many studies on pressure ulcer risk assessment and prevention lacked methodological quality to provide robust evidence and conclusions. Consequently, many of the recommendations in major international guidelines and protocols of major hospitals in Singapore are based on a combination of best available evidence, best practices and consensus opinion. We provided a summary of key recommendations for family physicians, based on the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT) framework. We also hope to stimulate interest in regular updates of local guidelines and major hospital protocols in Singapore to reflect the latest evidence based strategies on risk assessment and prevention of pressure ulcers.
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