Braden Scale; Norton Scale; nursing; predictive validity; pressure ulcers; Waterlow Scale

The aim of this study was to determine the predictive validity of the Braden, Norton, andWaterlow scales in 2 long?term care departments in the Czech Republic. Assessing the risk fordeveloping pressure ulcers is the first step in their prevention. At present, many scales are usedin clinical practice, but most of them have not been properly validated yet (for example, theModified Norton Scale in the Czech Republic). In the Czech Republic, only the Braden Scalehas been validated so far. This is a prospective comparative instrument testing study. A randomsample of 123 patients was recruited. The predictive validity of the pressure ulcer risk assessmentscales was evaluated based on sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The data were collected from April to August 2014. In the present study, the best predictive validity values were observed for theNorton Scale, followed by the Braden Scale and the Waterlow Scale, in that order. We recommended that the above 3 pressure ulcer risk assessment scales continue to be evaluated in the Czech clinical setting.