Assessment and Severity of Irritant Contact Dermatitis Due to Incontinence (ASICDI) Instrument

Incontinence Causes Skin Damage

The most common malignant symptom of incontinence is inflammatory skin damage or dermatitis. The buttocks, hips, and thighs are especially prone to skin breakdown when exposed to the moisture and chemicals in incontinence fluids. Skin damage prevention involves careful hygiene in the affected regions, but treatment is an involved process that depends on the severity of the skin damage. There exists a critical need for a benchmark tool that will assist nurses in evaluating skin damage levels.

Skin Assessment Instrument

A graphical tool has been developed that provides color representations of varying severities of incontinence-associated skin damage on different colors of skin. The tool identifies the different regions where damage often occurs and provides detailed images of each severity level. Body images shoe various body shapes, sizes, and skin color. This tool is the only one of its kind to have undergone psychometric testing by nurses. In addition, no other instrument on the market has undergone testing for accuracy on dark-toned skins.

Benefits and features of the Assessment and Severity of Irritant Contact Dermatitis Due to Incontinence (ASICDI) Instrument:

• Provides benchmark for incontinence-associated skin damage
• Allows for color comparison of damaged skin regions
• Contains sets of colors for each combination of severity and skin color
• First of its kind to undergo nurse psychometric validation and testing on dark-toned skins.
• Updated using new terminology consistent with new ICD-10-CM codes for MASD conditions and recommendations for dark skin
• Educational materials included for how to assess irritant contact dermatitis due to incontinence including tips for dark skin

Phase of Development

Pre-Market Validation

Researchers

• Donna Bliss, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing