Abstract

Although the sheepskin has been used in clinical care for ulcer prevention, no assessment has been reported on its effect on pressure relieving. Thereby this study aimed at quantitatively evaluating the effectiveness of sheepskin (SSM) in pressure relief. The pressure distributions of 18 students lying in supine posture on the standard hospital mattress (SHM) with and without the sheepskin mattress were measured by the mFLEX system.

Variables of peak pressure (mmHg) (PP), average pressure (AP) and contact area (cm2) (CA) at total, back, sacrum and heel region were provided for comparisons. A paired-T test with a significance level of 0.05 shows that, when the overlay of SSM was used on an SHM, total CA was significantly increased by 19.3% and PP and AP were reduced by 8.8% and 10.8% respectively. A similar reduction rate was also obtained at the sacrum position. Except for the heel area, all outcomes were proven to be reliable. Overall, sheepskin is an effective ulcer prevention product giving pressure relief.