Abstract
This study investigated the effects of adding ten seconds of application time and a method of spreading and applying towels to suppress heat vaporization to a back bed bath using disposable towels, based on skin temperature and subjective evaluations. Three types of back wiping were performed on 33 healthy adult subjects: (1) wiping without a ten second application time, (2) wiping with a ten second application time, and (3) original wiping with a ten second application time and a unique way of spreading and applying the towel to suppress heat vaporization. Skin temperature was measured and subjective evaluations were made. Repeated measures two-way ANOVA and Friedman tests were conducted. The results showed that the skin temperatures immediately after the ten second application time, and with the wipes unique to this study were higher than before the application of the wipes, and significantly higher than that without the ten second application time (P<.001). In the subjective evaluation, the warmth score of the original clean wipe was significantly higher (P<.001), but there was no significant difference in the pleasantness score. The results suggested that the addition of a ten second application time and the method of spreading and applying towels to a back bed bath using disposable towels increased the skin temperature immediately after wiping, and the addition of a method of covering and applying the towel can be expected to have a subjectively sensed positive effect on the feeling of warmth.
