Becoming Bedridden and Being Bedridden: Implications for Nursing and Care for Older People in Long-Term Care: A Scoping Review.
Bianca Berger, Fabian Graeb, Manfred Baumann and 1 others
PMID 39945557WHAT IT FOUND
Bedriddenness in older people in long-term care is a gradual loss of mobility, often starting with fear of falls.
The review mapped care and prevention themes but found weak definitions and little work on residents' psychosocial needs.
Key findings
01Bedriddenness is described as a gradual process that can begin with insecurity and fear of falls, then move through chair, room and bed confinement.
02In nursing homes, lower staffing was linked to much more bed time: residents were six times more likely to spend over 50% of their time in bed.
03Bed rest was linked to insomnia, skin damage and S. aureus infections; a nursing home study found no difference in venous thromboembolic events between immobile and partially mobile people.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a scoping review, so it maps the breadth of the literature rather than testing whether interventions work. The authors did not critically appraise the included studies, so the quality of the evidence behind each statement is unknown. There is no agreed definition of bedriddenness, and bed rest and bedriddenness were used synonymously in the included publications. The search was limited to English and German articles published within the last 25 years, and grey literature was not reviewed. The review focused on long-term care, although hospital stays can begin the process of confinement. Most included articles were quantitative, but the synthesis was descriptive and qualitative. Little research addressed the perspectives of bedridden residents, their psychosocial needs, or how they negotiate staying in bed.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that staffing, exercise, nutrition or assistive devices prevent bedriddenness. It is a scoping review that did not appraise study quality or test interventions.