Subepidermal moisture surrounding pressure ulcers in persons with a spinal cord injury: A pilot study

AbstractObjectiveCharacterization of a non-invasive method of quantifying subepidermal moisture (SEM) surrounding stages III and IV pressure ulcers (PrUs) in spinal cord injury (SCI).DesignProspective, single-visit, single-rater, observational study, using repeated-measures analysis.MethodSetting-inpatient units of one VA SCI Center.ParticipantsConvenience sample of 16 subjects with SCI with stage III or IV PrUs over sacrum or ischium.InterventionsMeasurement with the MoistureMeter-D, a hand-held device using 300 MHz electromagnetic waves.Outcome measuresDielectric constant, a dimensionless number which increases with the moisture content. Each subject had a PrU site and a control site. Measurements were made at each site, on intact skin, at four points spaced angularly around the site, in triplicate.Results(1) Short-term, single-rater relative error was 2.5%. (2) Order effect: first readings were higher than second readings in 55 of 64 measurement sets. Order effect was significant for control sites (P <...