2004 Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 29-35
We conducted a study to investigate the status of skin disorders in elderly caused by the use of medical adhesive tapes (hereafter referred to as tape). The subjects were 56 patients aged 65 years or older who were admitted to a 500-bed long-term care hospital. All subjects were treated with tape for various reasons in 67 separate areas. The informed consent was obtained from all patients. We examined the prevalence rate and the local sites of the skin disorders, and extracted the features of the skin disorder caused by the tape. The results showed a prevalence rate of 33.9%. Many of the skin disorders occurred around a pressure ulcer, gastric fistula and external wounds sites. Other prevalent areas included the abdomen and buttock areas where tape is commonly used. Among the various skin disorders, contact dermatitis was the most common cause (77.3%), followed by external wounds and infection. We investigated whether the type of tape, the purpose of application, the site, or any other physiological finding was related to the skin disorders, however no correlation to any of these items was found. However, the prevalence rate of skin disorders was high for elderly whose treatment involved the use of tape, featured by contact dermatitis around the pressure ulcers, gastric fistula and external wounds sites where tape was applied.
