Search

Diaper dermatitis is an inflammatory reactions of the skin under a diaper due to prolonged skin contact with irritants (urine and faeces), seborrhoea, allergic reaction, fungal (candida), and bacterial infections. It is more common in children aged 1-24 months, with the majority of instances occurring in newborns younger than one year. Over half of newborns suffer from the case at least once throughout their diaper-wearing phase. In low- and middle-income countries like Ethiopia, there is a lack of published data regarding the degree of parental knowledge of diaper dermatitis, its management, and the risk factors associated with the disease. Moreover, the topic receives little to no attention. Therefore, this study aims to assess the mothers' knowledge of diaper dermatitis and the risk factors linked with the disease. Data was collected from 396 mothers who came for immunization services from August 01 to September 01, 2024, consecutively. The data was cleaned, checked for completeness manually, and entered into SPSS version 26 for analysis. A binary multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the association between the independent and the outcome variables. Variables with a p-value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant, and an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was reported. The study findings revealed that 84.6% of mothers had self-reported good knowledge of DD and its management, and their main source of information is family members and relatives (35.4%). Nearly two-thirds (65.4%) of children experienced DD, and only 23.6% sought healthcare. Over one-third (37.1%) of mothers used Vaseline to treat DD at home, followed by baby powder (35.1%). The majority (83.6%) of mothers uses disposable diapers only, and 84.8% change 0-2 times per day. The output of logistic regression shows that being a 7-12 month-old child (aOR = 4.03; 95% Cl (1.41-11.50)), being a male child (aOR = 2.16; 95% Cl (1.14-4.06)), and being firstborn (aOR = 5.95; 95% Cl (1.39, 25.53)) variables had a significant association with knowledge of mothers. The study found that although the majority of mothers have self-reported good knowledge, a significant number of them have no awareness of the diapering practice, how to treat DD, when to seek medical attention, and how to take care of their skin after a bowel movement. Therefore, we suggest a structured teaching program to increase mothers' understanding of DD, including its prevention and management., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval: The methodology of the study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Adama General Hospital and Medical College with Reference Number AGHMC/2006/01/24., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Background: Diaper dermatitis (DD, sometimes known as diaper rash or napkin dermatitis is one of the most prevalent skin infections that occur in the area covered by the diaper. Although diaper dermatitis can be seen in any patient wearing diapers, it is reported to be more common in infants aged 9-12 months. Approximately, 70% of infants and young children suffer from diaper dermatitis at some point during their diaper wearing years and up to 25% of children seek healthcare due to this case., Methods and Analysis: Methods and Analysis: A comprehensive literature search will be gathered from electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, Hinari, Cochrane Library, African Journals Online (AJOL), and Google Scholar. The protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses for Protocol (PRISMA-P) guideline. All studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) will be included regardless of their study design as long as these studies report the magnitude of the problem under study. Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) appraisal checklist will be used to assess the quality of individual studies. Heterogeneity will be checked using Cochrane Q test statistics and I2 test statistics, and a random-effects model will be employed to estimate the pooled prevalence of DD and its associated factors., Ethics and Dissemination of Research: Ethics committee approval or written informed consent will not be required to conduct this review, and meta-analysis for the review will be entirely based on published data. The result of this study will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, and it will also be presented at relevant research conferences., Results: The present study will estimate the pooled prevalence of diaper dermatitis and their associated factors in low- and middle-income countries., Trial Registration: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42024578550., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2025 Negera et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)