Cost-consequence analysis of "washing without water" for nursing home residents: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: No-rinse disposable wash gloves are increasingly implemented in health care to replace traditional soap and water bed baths without proper evaluation of (cost) effectiveness.

Objectives: To compare bed baths for effects on skin integrity and resistance against bathing and costs.

Design: Cluster randomized trial.

Setting: Fifty six nursing home wards in the Netherlands. Participants: Five hundred adult care-dependent residents and 275 nurses from nursing home wards.

Methods: The experimental condition 'washing without water' consists of a bed bath with disposable wash gloves made of non-woven waffled fibers, saturated with a no-rinse, quickly vaporizing skin cleaning and caring lotion. The control condition is a traditional bed bath using soap, water, washcloths and towels. Both conditions were continued for 6 weeks. Outcome measures were prevalence of skin damage distinguished in two levels of severity: any skin abnormality/lesion and significant skin lesions. Additional outcomes: resistance during bed baths, costs.

Results: Any skin abnormalities/lesions over time decreased slightly in the experimental group, and increased slightly in the control group, resulting in 72.7% vs 77.6% of residents having any skin abnormalities/lesions after 6 weeks, respectively (p=0.04). There were no differences in significant skin lesions or resistance after 6 weeks. Mean costs for bed baths during 6 weeks per resident were estimated at €218.30 (95%CI 150.52-286.08) in the experimental group and €232.20 (95%CI: 203.80-260.60) in the control group (difference €13.90 (95%CI: -25.61-53.42).

Conclusion: Washing without water mildly protects from skin abnormalities/lesions, costs for preparing and performing bed baths do not differ from costs for traditional bed bathing. Thus, washing without water can be considered the more efficient alternative.