1. Disposable diapers decrease the incidence of neonatal infections compared to cloth diapers in a level II neonatal intensive care unit.
- Author
-
Babu, M. Chowdary, Tandur, Baswaraj, Sharma, Deepak, and Murki, Srinivas
- Subjects
SEPTICEMIA prevention ,CROSS infection prevention ,COMMUNICABLE disease epidemiology ,CLOTHING & dress ,COMPARATIVE studies ,CROSS infection ,DIAPERS ,INFANT care ,LONGITUDINAL method ,RESEARCH methodology ,MEDICAL cooperation ,NEONATAL intensive care ,RESEARCH ,SEPSIS ,CITY dwellers ,EVALUATION research ,NEONATAL intensive care units ,DISEASE incidence ,DIAPER rash ,ECONOMICS ,PREVENTION - Abstract
Objective: To study whether disposable diapers decrease the incidence of neonatal infections compared with cloth diapers in a level II neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).Method and Material: All neonates admitted to the NICU and having duration of stay >48 h were enrolled. Those babies with signs and symptoms of infection were screened with septic screen and/or blood culture.Results: The primary outcome of the study was incidence of probable sepsis. Of 253 babies enrolled in the study period, probable sepsis was present in 101 (39.9%) infants in the total study group and was higher in cloth diaper group as compared with disposable diaper group (p = 0.01). For an average NICU stay of 6 days, cloth diapers would cost Rs. 241 vs. Rs. 162 for disposable diaper for any infant.Conclusion: Usage of disposable diapers decrease the incidence of probable sepsis in babies admitted to NICU. It is also cost effective to use disposable diapers in the NICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF