Can an early mobilisation programme prevent hospital‐acquired pressure injures in an intensive care unit?: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

A systematic review and meta‐analysis were conducted to clarify the effect of an early mobilisation programme on the prevention of hospital‐acquired pressure injuries in an intensive care unit as opposed to standard care. We searched a total of 11 databases until 1 May 2020 and included seven studies (n = 7.520) related to the effect of early mobilisation protocol in the prevention of hospital‐acquired pressure injuries (five quasi‐experimental and two random comparative). The five quasi‐experimental studies were significantly heterogeneous (P = .02 for Q test and 66% for I (2)), and the odds ratio was 0.97 (95% CI: 0.49‐1.91) with a non‐significant statistical difference between both groups (P = .93). Our study shows inconclusive outcomes related to the effect of the implementation of an early mobility programme in the prevention of pressure injuries in critical patients. Future research is needed considering the small number of articles on the topic.