Skin areas, clinical severity, duration and risk factors of intertrigo: A secondary data analysis.

AIM: To describe the skin areas most often affected by intertrigo, the clinical severity and duration of intertrigo and possible risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Secondary analysis of data from 2013 to 2016 collected by the International Prevalence Measurement of Care Quality in Dutch hospitals, care homes and community care. RESULTS: In total, n = 7865 (mean age 80.1 years) subjects were included in this analysis. The inguinal, breast and gluteal cleft skin areas were most often affected by intertrigo. The skin was often inflamed but not eroded. Strongest associations between intertrigo at inguinal skin and diabetes mellitus (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.1-3.1), intertrigo at sub mammary folds and urinary incontinence (OR 1.6; 95% CI 0.9-2.9) and between intertrigo at gluteal cleft and urinary incontinence (OR 2.9; 95% CI 1.4-5.2) were observed. CONCLUSION: The inguinal region, sub mammary folds and gluteal clefts are most often affected by intertrigo. Female sex, urinary incontinence and high BMI seem to enhance intertrigo risk at all of these skin areas.

Preventing and treating intertrigo in the large skin folds of adults: a literature overview.

Intertrigo is an inflammatory dermatosis of the skin folds of the body, for which a large variety of topical medications may be recommended. A systematic literature review was performed to find scientific evidence for preventing and treating intertrigo within the nursing domain. Seven electronic databases were searched with a simple broad-scope search strategy. The aim was to identify all publications that concerned intertrigo itself and other conditions that were related to intertriginous regions. This search produced 451 references. A final set of 24 studies was retained and analyzed on content and methodologic quality. Most studies concerned treatments with antifungals or disinfectants in heterogeneous research samples, with only small subsamples of people with intertrigo. Six studies were randomized controlled trials. In general, the methodologic quality of the studies was poor. The analyzed studies provided no scientific evidence for any type of nursing prevention or treatment strategy. There is a great need for well-designed clinical studies on intertrigo.