OBJECTIVES: To estimate the potential budget impact of utilizing a cyanoacrylate polymer barrier film (CPBF) for the prevention and management of incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) compared to traditional methods for critically acute patients in a Canadian hospital setting.

METHODS: A cost-minimization model was used to calculate the potential budget impact of using CPBF for the prevention and management of IAD in hospitalized patients requiring intensive care compared to traditional methods from the perspective of public health in Canada over 30 days. Parameters used in the analysis were taken from published literature, including the rates of incontinence, mild IAD (35.1%)¹, and moderate to severe IAD (15.4%)¹. The model considered the daily average number of incontinent episodes per patient as 6. The number of product applications per week was 42 for traditional methods versus 2 applications per week of CPBF for prevention of mild IAD, and 3 times per week for moderate to severe IAD. The cleansing and application time for the traditional method was 5 minutes and 2 minutes, respectively versus 2 minutes for cleansing and 45 seconds for application of CPBF. Local material and nursing costs were applied. All calculations were performed in Canadian dollars.

RESULTS: The total material costs for 15 intensive care patients over a 30-day period were reduced by 33% ($246) for CPBF ($548) use compared to traditional methods ($812). Total nursing time was reduced by 71% (181 hours) with CPBF (75 hours) use compared to traditional methods (256 hours). The total savings associated with using CPBF was 68.2% ($7,799).

CONCLUSIONS: The use of a CPBF for the prevention and management of IAD in patients requiring intensive acute care is likely to reduce the burden of care for clinicians and may yield significant cost and resource savings