The number of hospitalizations involving patients with pressure ulcers increased by almost 80% between 1993 and 2006, according to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Patients included in the study developed pressure ulcers both before and after hospital admission.

The data from AHRQ show that, in 2006, 503,300 hospitalizations involved pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers were the primary diagnosis in about 45,500 of these (an increase from 35,800 in 1993). Patients for whom the ulcers were a secondary diagnosis were primarily admitted for pneumonia or infections. For patients admitted with a primary diagnosis of pressure ulcers, about 1 patient in 25 died during hospitalization.

The AHRQ report uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample.