A multicenter comparative evaluation: disposable pads for women with light incontinence.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current range of disposable pads for women with light incontinence available in the United Kingdom.

Setting And Subjects: Sixty community-based women aged 50 years or older were recruited to the study from several locations throughout the United Kingdom.

Methods: A multiple crossover design was used, which enabled all subjects to test all of the 12 products that were available on the UK market at the time of the evaluation. Two tools were used to evaluate the products: a product performance questionnaire and a pad leakage diary. This incorporated both subjective and objective outcome measures.

Results: Statistically significant differences were found between the products in 13 of the 17 performance aspects, eg, ability to hold urine without leaking and the fit of the pad.

Conclusions: As a group, all of the products tested performed well in terms of their ability to hold urine without leakage. However, two products performed particularly well and scored highly on most aspects of performance and represented successful "all-round" products; these were the Tena Lady Extra and the Prevail Extra Plus.