Effect of Olive Oil in Preventing the Development of Pressure Ulcer Grade One in Intensive Care Unit Patients

BACKGROUND: Detecting pressure ulcer is an important nursing diagnostic care required for the patients hospitalized in ICU. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of olive oil in preventing the development of pressure ulcer grade one in ICU patients. METHODS: In this clinical trial, 72 patients eligible for hospitalization in hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were divided randomly into two groups; control and intervention (receiving olive oil). The standard program of skincare was implemented on both the groups; in addition, olive oil was applied topically in the intervention group. The data was collected on the first day through demographic information and Braden pressure ulcer risk assessment scale. An infrared thermometer was used to record the local temperature of the ulcers daily. Assessments were made based on pressure ulcer scale for healing (PUSH) tool and the pressure ulcer area was examined per square cm on the first, fourth, and seventh day. The data collected was analyzed by Fisher's exact test, independent sample t-test and repeated measure analysis using SPSS (version 22). RESULTS: On the fourth and seventh day, the PUSH score was lower in the olive oil group (7.50 ± 2.823 and 5.44 ± 3.806) than in the control group (9.50 ± 1.732 and 8.83 ± 2.864) (P-value <0.001). Also, a significant improvement of ulcer was observed in the olive oil group (mean difference = 3.56; P value <0.001) but no change was observed in the control group (mean difference = 0.75; P value = 0.052). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the effect of olive oil in the reduction of ulcer area and the average PUSH score obtained in ICU patients, the application of olive oil is recommended for healing grade one pressure ulcers.