• The Abruzzese Scale is based on the Norton and Gosnell scales.

  • Domains measured include:
    1) General Health
    2) Mental Status
    3) Activity
    4) Mobility
    5) Continence
    6) Nutrition
    7) Predisposing Disease

Clinical Considerations

The Abruzzese Scale is a clinician-administered scale designed to assess the risk of pressure sore development in acute and long-term care settings.

ICF Domain

Body Function ▶ Functions of the Skin

Administration

Raters score risks of developing pressure ulcers based on personal observation or chart review.

Number of Items

9

Equipment

N/A

Scoring

  • Items are scored on a 4-point scale, either 0–3, or 0, 1, 4, 6 depending on the item
  • Addition of the scores from each of the 9 items produces an overall score between 0 (best prognosis) and 30 (worst prognosis)

Languages

English

Training Required

No formal training required. However, knowledge about skin health is beneficial.

Availability

Currently unavailable.

# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 1

Interpretability

MCID: not available in SCI
SEM: not established in SCI
MDC: not established in SCI

The SCIPUS-A (71%) was the most accurate in predicting pressure ulcer development, followed by the SCIPUS (65.9%), Braden (62.3%), Gosnell (62.2%), Abruzzese (60.1%) and Norton (60.8%) scales.

The Abruzzese scale had a sensitivity of 21.8% and a specificity of 84.6%.

(Salzberg et al. 1999: n=226, 188 males, 38 females; mean (SD) age: 33.1 (15.2) years)

Reliability

No values have been reported at this time for the reliability of the Braden Scale for the SCI population.

Validity

Low to Moderate correlations between stage of 1st pressure ulcer and pressure ulcer scales:
SCIPUS-A (r=0.488)
SCIPUS (r=0.343)
Braden (r=-0.353)
Gosnell (r=0.254)
Abruzzese (r=0.241)
Norton (r=-0.192)

Low to Moderate correlations between the number of pressure ulcers and pressure ulcer scales:
SCIPUS-A (r=0.519)
SCIPUS (r=0.339)
Braden (r=-0.431)
Gosnell (r=0.297)
Abruzzese (r=0.212)
Norton (r=-0.197).

(Salzberg et al. 1999: n=226, 188 males, 38 females; mean (SD) age: 33.1 (15.2) years)

Responsiveness

No values were reported for the responsiveness of the Abruzzese Scale for the SCI population.

Floor/Ceiling Effect

No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the Abrruzese Scale for the SCI population.

Reviewers

Dr. Carlos L. Cano-Herrera, Elsa Sun

Date Last Updated

31 December 2024

Salzberg CA, Byrne DW, Kabir R, Van Niewerburgh P, Cayten CG. Predicting pressure ulcers during initial hospitalization for acute spinal cord injury. Wounds 1999;11:45-57.
https://scholars.mssm.edu/en/publications/predicting-pressure-ulcers-during-initial-hospitalization-for-acu-2

Mortenson WB, Miller WC, the SCIRE Research Team. A review of scales for assessing the risk of developing a pressure ulcer in individuals with SCI. Spinal Cord. 2008;46(3):168-175
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17909557/