Evidence-Based Skin Care

Abstract

Patients in acute and long-term care settings receive daily routine skin care, including washing, bathing, and showering, often followed by application of lotions, creams, and/or ointments. These personal hygiene and skin care activities are integral parts of nursing practice, but little is known about their benefits or clinical efficacy. The aim of this article was to summarize the empirical evidence supporting basic skin care procedures and interventions and to develop a clinical algorithm for basic skin care. Electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL were searched and afterward a forward search was conducted using Scopus and Web of Science. In order to evaluate a broad range of basic skin care interventions systematic reviews, intervention studies, and guidelines, consensus statements and best practice standards also were included in the analysis. One hundred twenty-one articles were read in full text; 41documents were included in this report about skin care for prevention of dry skin, prevention of incontinence-associated dermatitis and prevention of skin injuries. The methodological quality of the included publications was variable. Review results and expert input were used to create a clinical algorithm for basic skin care. A 2-step approach is proposed including general and special skin care. Interventions focus primarily on skin that is either too dry or too moist. The target groups for the algorithm are adult patients or residents with intact or preclinical damaged skin in care settings. The goal of the skin care algorithm is a first attempt to provide guidance for practitioners to improve basic skin care in clinical settings in order to maintain or increase skin health.

Cold atmospheric pressure plasmas in dermatology: Sources, reactive agents, and therapeutic effects

“…Lotions and ointments have been widely used for treating skin disease for hundreds of years. [ 13,104 ] However, the majority of active substances are prevented from reaching the target structures by the cutaneous barrier, even in the case of inflammatory processes. [ 105 ] Consequently, various physical techniques, such as microneedle arrays, ablative techniques, and sonophoresis, [ 105 ] were developed to increase the penetration of topically applied permeabilizing agents.…”

Características e Prevalência em Cuidados de Saúde Primários das Feridas Crónicas

“…10,26,27 CONCLUSÕES Os resultados do presente estudo indicam que a prevalência de feridas crónicas na população geodemográfica do ACeS Pinhal Litoral é de 0,84/1000, sendo 1,01/1000 no sexo masculino e 0,69/1000 no feminino (p < 0,05). Os doentes com mais de 80 anos apresentam uma prevalência de 5,68/1000, que é mais elevada relativamente aos mais novos (p < 0,05).…”

Effectiveness of bed bath methods for skin integrity, skin cleanliness and comfort enhancement in adults: A systematic review

“…The importance of skin integrity is generally accepted for the fields of skin care because it is a quality indicator of patient care (Lichterfeld et al, 2015), and maintaining skin integrity with daily routine skin care, such as a bed bath, indicates higher cost-effectiveness than wound treatment (Flanagan et al, 2014).…”