Novel air mattress reduces interface pressure in neonatal and pediatric patients: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Novel air mattress reduces interface pressure in neonatal and pediatric patients: a randomized controlled clinical trial | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Novel air mattress reduces interface pressure in neonatal and pediatric patients: a randomized controlled clinical trial Tino A. Jucker, Simon Annaheim, Anna-Barbara Schlüer, Barbara Brotschi, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7292528/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Pressure injuries are of critical concern in neonates in the intensive care unit, as this patient group is highly susceptible due to prolonged periods of immobility and their fragile skin. In a randomized crossover study, the impact of a novel air mattress on pressure distribution was investigated and compared with a conventional foam mattress. Interface pressure was measured using a high-resolution sensor mat. Analysis was performed across two anatomical regions (head and torso) at five predefined time points during a 60-minute observation period. The top 2% and 25% interface pressure values were analyzed, and exponential regression analysis was applied to assess temporal differences in interface pressure. The air mattress showed consistently lower interface pressures than the foam mattress. In the top 25% pressure values, pressures in the head region revealed a 36.5% reduction on the air mattress (median: 2.44 kPa, interquartile range (IQR): 2.19-2.89) compared to the foam mattress (median: 3.84 kPa, IQR: 3.27-4.55). This resulted in a 56.0% reduction in the proportion of potentially harmful and high risk pressure values for the air mattress. Similarly, in the torso region, pressures were 23.5% lower (median: 2.02 kPa vs. 2.64 kPa), reducing risk exposure by 61%. The air mattress showed lower pressure variability, indicated by narrower interquartile ranges than on the foam mattress. Foam mattress variability suggests potentially more movements that might be an indicator of discomfort. These results confirm the air mattress's capability to substantially reduce interface pressures in high-risk neonates, providing a basis for improving support surfaces to mitigate pressure injury risk. Biomechanical interfaces smart mattress pediatric and neonatal healthcare Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Pressure injuries Innovation Prevention Clinical research Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. The data can be found at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17251624 . Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7292528","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":520135075,"identity":"60159cd3-8040-4514-939b-d9953edcee75","order_by":0,"name":"Tino A. 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In a randomized crossover study, the impact of a novel air mattress on pressure distribution was investigated and compared with a conventional foam mattress. Interface pressure was measured using a high-resolution sensor mat. Analysis was performed across two anatomical regions (head and torso) at five predefined time points during a 60-minute observation period. The top 2% and 25% interface pressure values were analyzed, and exponential regression analysis was applied to assess temporal differences in interface pressure. The air mattress showed consistently lower interface pressures than the foam mattress. In the top 25% pressure values, pressures in the head region revealed a 36.5% reduction on the air mattress (median: 2.44 kPa, interquartile range (IQR): 2.19-2.89) compared to the foam mattress (median: 3.84 kPa, IQR: 3.27-4.55). This resulted in a 56.0% reduction in the proportion of potentially harmful and high risk pressure values for the air mattress. Similarly, in the torso region, pressures were 23.5% lower (median: 2.02 kPa vs. 2.64 kPa), reducing risk exposure by 61%. The air mattress showed lower pressure variability, indicated by narrower interquartile ranges than on the foam mattress. Foam mattress variability suggests potentially more movements that might be an indicator of discomfort. These results confirm the air mattress's capability to substantially reduce interface pressures in high-risk neonates, providing a basis for improving support surfaces to mitigate pressure injury risk.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Novel air mattress reduces interface pressure in neonatal and pediatric patients: a randomized controlled clinical trial","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-07 14:30:53","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7292528/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-pediatrics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"bped","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Pediatrics](http://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/bped/default.aspx","title":"BMC Pediatrics","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"16c24ff3-a13c-487a-8d51-10d01e083531","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 7th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-07T14:30:53+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-07 14:30:53","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7292528","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7292528","identity":"rs-7292528","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}