Review of interface pressure measurement to establish a protocol for their use in the assessment of patient support surfaces.

The interface pressure (IP) between a body and support surface is one objective measure used in the evaluation of the wide variety of pressure relieving equipment that exists for the prevention and treatment of pressure sores. We present a review of the literature associated with making these measurements and discuss the acute need to be able to use them to choose the most effective 'anti-pressure sore devices' for patient care, as well as discussing the difficulties associated with this decision making. We focus on interface pressure monitors describing their development and discussing the questions that remain about the accuracy and relevance of their measurements. An outline of the strengths and limitations of the most commonly used pressure sensors is given. There remains a gap in research in this area that is clinically specific and the need to be able to assess these anti-pressure sore devices with patients in a hospital environment is highlighted. The variants involved in assessing patients on various mattresses and the difficulties associated with this are described. A protocol is suggested in an attempt to improve the use of such devices and establish a better method for quantifying the clinical effectiveness of different support surfaces.