Urinary incontinence is a major health problem affecting elderly people. Patients suffering from urinary incontinence frequently use adult diapers and absorbent incontinence pads. In recent years, mesh briefs have become widely used as an alternative to diapers in combination with incontinence pads; however, the functionality and comfort of mesh briefs have not been fully evaluated. The evaluation of incontinence products used on a daily basis is very important for elderly people. The present study aimed to clarify whether the use of a combination of mesh briefs and an incontinence pad is more comfortable than the use of diapers and an incontinence pad through the evaluation of both objective and subjective parameters. Six healthy women were recruited and randomly assigned to a diaper group or mesh brief group. Skin temperature and humidity at coccygeal, suprapubic, and left iliac regions were measured using special sensors and subjective discomfort was assessed using the VAS. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the two groups. After 60 minutes, skin humidity at the left iliac region tended be lower in the mesh brief group than that in the diaper group(p=0.063); however, no significant differences between the two groups were observed for the other regions. Subjective scores for “poor fit,” “a sense of discomfort”, and “difficulty moving” were significantly lower in the mesh brief group(each p=0.031). These findings suggest that the use of mesh briefs in combination with insert pads may maintain subjective and objective comfort in users, possibly contributing to improved QOL.
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