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Effect on skin hydration of using baby wipes to clean the napkin area of newborn babies: assessor-blinded randomised controlled equivalence trial Full Text
BMC Pediatrics, 06/08/2012
Lavender T et al. – Baby wipes had an equivalent effect on skin hydration when compared with cotton wool and water. The authors found no evidence of any adverse effects of using these wipes. These findings offer reassurance to parents who choose to use baby wipes and to health professionals who support their use.
Methods- A prospective, assessor-blinded, randomised controlled equivalence trial was conducted during 2010.
- Healthy, term babies (n = 280), recruited within 48 hours of birth, were randomly assigned to have their napkin area cleansed with an alcohol-free baby wipe (140 babies) or cotton wool and water (140 babies).
- Primary outcome was change in hydration from within 48 hours of birth to 4 weeks post-birth.
- Secondary outcomes comprised changes in trans-epidermal water loss, skin surface pH and erythema, presence of microbial skin contaminants/irritants at 4 weeks and napkin dermatitis reported by midwife at 4 weeks and mother during the 4 weeks.
- Complete hydration data were obtained for 254 (90.7 %) babies.
- Wipes were shown to be equivalent to water and cotton wool in terms of skin hydration (intention-to-treat analysis: wipes 65.4 (SD 12.4) vs. water 63.5 (14.2), p = 0.47, 95 % CI -2.5 to 4.2; per protocol analysis: wipes 64.6 (12.4) vs. water 63.6 (14.3), p = 0.53, 95 % CI -2.4 to 4.2).
- No significant differences were found in the secondary outcomes, except for maternal-reported napkin dermatitis, which was higher in the water group (p = 0.025 for complete responses).