A comparison of cost and efficacy of three incontinence skin barrier products.

Maintaining healthy, intact perineal skin in nursing home residents with incontinence is a challenge. Their condition puts them at risk for developing incontinence dermatitis, possibly predisposing them to develop pressure ulcers. To examine the cost-effectiveness of three perineal skin barriers (a polymer-based barrier film and two petrolatum ointments) used to prevent incontinence dermatitis, a 6-month descriptive study was conducted among residents (N = 250) from four long-term care facilities (nursing homes) in the upper Midwestern US. All residents were incontinent and had intact perineal skin when they enrolled in the study. An economic analysis was performed using time-motion data from a convenience sample of enrolled residents and their caregivers. Residents had an average of 4.1 (+/-2.307) incontinent episodes per day, the occurrence of incontinence dermatitis was 3.3 % and not significantly different between the different protocols of care (P = 0.4448). Results of the economic analysis showed that daily barrier application costs ranged from $0.17 for the barrier film to $0.76 for the ointments evaluated. With labor included in the analysis, costs were also lower for the barrier film that required the least frequent application ($0.26) compared to ointments that required more frequent application ($1.40). Results of this study suggest that the daily or three times weekly barrier film protocols are affordable alternatives to using petrolatum ointments in the prevention of incontinence dermatitis.