Comparing Sitting Pressures Between 2 Commercially Available Cushions on the MSCC

Research Objectives: To test the impact of the RAZ Mobile Shower Commode Chair (MSCC) VEF cushion compared to the standard cushion on the sitting pressures in typical developing adults.

Design: Two factorial repeated measures. 79 subjects, 4 week data collection

Setting: A public university

Participants: 79 participants . Inclusion criteria: 18+ years old , ambulatory, independently transfer and sitting on the MSCC, no evidence of pressure sores. Exclusion criteria was the inability to sit in the MSCC and/or lack of informed consent.

Interventions: The subjects sat on 2 different RAZ MSCC cushions , standard cushion and ViscoElastic foam (VEF) cushion. A pressure map device recorded sitting pressures. 8 different positions were implemented for both cushions

Main Outcome Measures: Two variables were specifically analyzed: Maximum pressure and Peak pressure were measured for both cushions across 8 different positions.

Results: Data was analyzed using a Two-Way Within- Subjects Repeated Measures ANOVA.
Maximal pressures: significant interaction effect for cushion*position, (F (4.458,334.357) = 3.367, p = 0.008, ηp2 =.043); The results revealed significant main effect for cushion (F (1, 75) = 5.840, p = .018, ηp2 = .072), with the average maximum pressure less for the VEF cushion than the standard cushion
Peak Pressures: significant interaction effect for cushion*position, (F (4.006,304.492) = 4.553, p = 0.001, ηp2 =.057). Significant main effect for position.

Conclusions: Overall, the VEF cushion significantly outperformed the standard cushion. The results indicate a very significant difference (>95%) in pressure distribution when comparing the VEF interface to standard interfaces as well as tilt-in-space mechanics. There findings are important clinically as pressure injuries cause significant impairments to people with mobility and sensory deficits and recovery from pressure sores has a very high financial and human activity. The findings suggest that the VEF cushion provides statistically significant better pressure relief People with severe injuries can take several hours to perform daily bath and hygiene care, thus reducing sitting pressures is paramount to protecting their skin and maintaining their overall health

Author(s) Disclosures: All authors have no disclosures or financial conflict