APRICOT-NQ: Advancing Pressure Injury Risk Classification & Outcome Testing - North Queensland
Role
Principal Investigator
Description
• Pressure Injury (PI) continues to be a major problem: In Australia, PI is a significant hospit al-acquired complication requiring early clinical intervention(3). Hospital-acquired PI (HAPI) are a persistent and serious patient safety threat(1, 3) and financially burdensome. HAPI prevalence remains high (between 8-10%(4, 5), and the cost is substantial, estimated to be $9 billion per year in Australian public hospitals(6). • Current risk assessment is inadequate: Existing tools like the Waterlow Score and Braden Scales(7, 8) are outdated, subjective, and lack robust validation(9). They were developed using small samples and without advanced statistical methods(10, 11). This raises ethical concerns about their continued use. • Need for better solutions: A new approach is therefore urgently needed to bridge this gap in knowledge to accurately classify PI, their risk factors and effective prevention strategies.• Machine learning challenges: While AI and machine learning offer potential solutions, they are hampered by the poor quality of existing PI risk assessment data(9); exemplifying the "garbage in, garbage out" principle. • Data quality issues: PI documentation is often free text, incomplete, and inaccurate, further complicating the problem. This unstructured data makes it difficult to train reliable machine learning models.
Date
01 Jul 2025 - 30 Jun 2027
Project Type
N/A
Keywords
N/A
Funding Body
Townsville Hospital and Health Service
Amount
140000
Project Team
N/A