Conditions Related with Lesion Risk in Elderly People with Xerosis

Abstract

Introduction:Cutaneous xerosis presents a high frequency and can generate, in addition to discomfort, changes in the visual and sensory appearance of the skin, as well as an increased risk of injury occurrence. Upon instituting systematic and daily examination, it is possible to contribute to injury prevention by identifying risks.

Objective: To map the scientific evidence on conditions related to the risk of injury occurrence in elderly people with cutaneous xerosis in the hospital setting.

Methods: This is a literature review using the PRISMA tool (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses). The search for studies was carried out in September and October 2020. Articles published in English, Portuguese or Spanish within the last ten years were reviewed, combining the following descriptors and keywords with each other by the Boolean operator AND: piel seca [dry skin], envejecimiento de la piel [skin aging], enfermería [nursing], cuidado de enfermería [nursing care], and cuidados del anciano [elderly care].

Conclusions: A total of thirteen studies made up the corpus, through which the following conditions were found in the national and international literature: presence of areas with altered sensitivity and hydrogen potential, lower turgor and elasticity, immobility, high-age group, pruritus, skin cracking, friction and shearing, as well as the presence of concomitant diseases. It was possible to map the main conditions related to the risk of occurrence of lesions in the elderly people with cutaneous xerosis in the hospital setting, as well as to highlight the need for interventions by nurses to prevent the occurrence of lesions, without forgetting the contributions of the interprofessional team, because the problem has multifactorial causes.