Kalli Talaska

Date of Award

Fall 11-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Human Ecology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the change in stage III or IV pressure injury size of enterally fed, ventilator dependent, long-term care residents after receiving one of two protein supplements in addition to enteral feeding meeting 100% of calculated needs. The two protein supplements were Beneprotein™ (powder) and Pro T Gold™ (liquid). The injuries were evaluated for change in size at two weeks and four weeks post initiation of protein supplement. Sixty subjects were reviewed – 30 for each supplement. Subjects included 20 males (33%) and 40 females (67%). The analysis indicated for the total sample, a significant reduction in injury size for those receiving Beneprotein™ compared to those receiving Pro T Gold™ (p<0.05) after two weeks of supplementation. However, there was no significant difference between the supplement groups after four weeks of continued supplementation (p = .261). Injury healing for subjects with an existing comorbidity of diabetes or chronic kidney disease were compared to subjects without these comorbidities. Overall, the comorbidity group experienced greater injury healing compared to the non-comorbidity group after both two weeks (p<0.05) and four weeks of supplementation (p<0.05). This research showed that Beneprotein™ provided more rapid wound healing in the first two weeks of supplementation and that the comorbidity group experienced greater benefit from protein supplementation. Further research needs to be conducted with a larger sample size for a longer monitoring time.

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