Acceptability of Massage with Skin Barrier-enhancing Emollients in Young Neonates in Bangladesh
Oil massage of newborns has been practised for generations in the Indian sub-continent; however, oils may vary from potentially beneficial, e.g. sunflower seed oil, to potentially toxic, e.g. mustard oil. The study was carried out to gain insights into oil-massage practices and acceptability of skin...
Saved in:
Published in | Journal of health, population and nutrition Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 236 - 240 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Bangladesh
ICDDR,B: Centre for Health and Population Research
01.06.2007
BioMed Central Ltd BioMed Central International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Oil massage of newborns has been practised for generations in the
Indian sub-continent; however, oils may vary from potentially
beneficial, e.g. sunflower seed oil, to potentially toxic, e.g. mustard
oil. The study was carried out to gain insights into oil-massage
practices and acceptability of skin barrier-enhancing emollients in
young, preterm Bangladeshi neonates. Preterm infants of <33 weeks
gestational age were randomized to high-linoleate sunflower seed oil,
Aquaphor Original Emollient Ointment™, or the comparison group
(usual care). A survey was administered at admission to assess routine
skin-care practices prior to admission and at discharge to assess
acceptability of emollient therapy during hospitalization. Oil massage
was given to 83 (21%) of 405 babies before hospital admission, 86%
(71/83) of whom were delivered at home. Application of oil, most
commonly mustard oil (88%, 73/83), was started within one hour of birth
in 51 cases (61%) and was applied all over the body (89%, 74/83) one to
six (mean 2.2) times before admission. Of infants who received
emollient therapy in the hospital, 42% (n=32) of mothers reported that
the emollient applied in the hospital was better than that available at
home, and only 29% would use the same oil (i.e. mustard oil) in the
future as used previously at home. No problems resulted from use of
emollient in the hospital. Topical therapy with sunflower seed oil or
Aquaphor was perceived by many families to be superior to mustard oil.
If caregivers and health professionals can be motivated to use
inexpensive, available emollients, such as sunflower seed oil that are
beneficial, emollient therapy could have substantial public-health
benefit. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed to: Dr. Gary L. Darmstadt Department of International Health, E8153 Bloomberg School of Public Health Johns Hopkins University 615 North Wolfe Street Baltimore, MD 21205 USA Email: gdarmsta@jhsph.edu Fax: 410-614-1419 |
ISSN: | 1606-0997 2072-1315 |