SHBC1098

G.F. GLASS¹, C.C. GOH¹, R.Q. CHEONG¹, Z.L. ONG¹, P.C. KHONG², E.Y. CHAN¹

Tan Tock Seng Hospital¹, Ren Ci Community Hospital²

Incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) is a common painful affliction in older persons across care facilities, often addressed using body wipes alone in the removal of urine and faecal matter. While novel skin cleanser and protectant products are available, there has not been any published evaluation of their effectiveness in a tropical environment. Hence, we sought to evaluate the effectiveness of such regimens on IAD healing.

We conducted a an open-label cluster randomized trial in a Singaporean acute hospital, comparing the effectiveness of a combined regimen of (1) specialised skin cleansers with disposable body wipes and (2) either an acrylic terpolymer (T1) or zinc oxide (T2) skin protectant against disposable body wipes and zinc oxide protectant (Control) in promoting IAD healing in older persons with broken skin. Cox Proportional Hazards modelling was applied to examine their effect within seven days of treatment.42 patients were recruited between April 2019 to January 2020. Patients treated with T1 and T2 were three times as likely to experience IAD healing within seven days compared to the control (T1: HR=3.03, 95%CI:0.34-29.17, p=0.40; T2: HR=3.40, 95%CI:0.39-29.27, p=0.40).

42 patients were recruited between April 2019 to January 2020. Patients treated with T1 and T2 were three times as likely to experience IAD healing within seven days compared to the control (T1: HR=3.03, 95%CI:0.34-29.17, p=0.40; T2: HR=3.40, 95%CI:0.39-29.27, p=0.40).

Our study was the first of its kind to explore the effectiveness of skin treatment regimens for IAD with broken skin in the tropics. Our results point towards the adoption of skin cleansers for effective removal of incontinent matter to accelerate skin healing compared to body wipes alone. More research is needed to better understand the physical attributes of skin cleansers to develop more effective products.