Introduction: Prevention is the ideal strategy to tackle the problem of pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcer risk assessment scales are one of the most pivotal measures applied to tackle the problem, much criticisms has been developed regarding the validity and reliability of these scales.
Objective: To investigate the validity and reliability of the Waterlow pressure ulcer risk assessment scale.
Method: The methodology used is a narrative literature review, the bibliography was reviewed through Cinahl, Pubmed, EBSCO, Medline and Google scholar, 26 scientific articles where identified. The articles where chosen due to their direct correlation with the objective under study and their scientific relevance.
Results: The construct and face validity of the Waterlow appears adequate, but with regards to content validity changes in the category age and gender can be beneficial. The concurrent validity cannot be assessed. The predictive validity of the Waterlow is characterized by high specificity and low sensitivity. The inter-rater reliability has been demonstrated to be inadequate, this may be due to lack of clear definitions within the categories and differentiating level of knowledge between the users.
Conclusion: Due to the limitations presented regarding the validity and reliability of the Waterlow pressure ulcer risk assessment scale, the scale should be used in conjunction with clinical assessment to provide optimum results.
Keywords: Pressure ulcer; Waterlow; reliability; risk assessment scale; validity.