Bathing/hygiene self-care deficit: defining characteristics and related factors across age groups and diagnosis-related groups in an acute care setting.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to validate the nursing diagnosis, bathing/hygiene self-care deficit. Defining characteristics and related factors were abstracted retrospectively from a computerized patient care planning database. Data were treated to descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis to determine frequencies and percentages. Major support was found for the defining characteristic "inability to wash body or body parts" (84%) and minor support was garnered for "inability to obtain/access water source" (77%). Related factors associated with the diagnosis were also examined for this acute-care patient population. The percentages of occurrence were decreased activity tolerance (40%); mobility impairment (24%), pain (19%), musculoskeletal impairment (19%), neuromuscular impairment (9%), and perceptual or cognitive impairment (4%). The diagnosis was found among 80 DRGs and across all age groups (range, 9-92 years).