Actual Conditions and Major Factors of Diaper Dermatitis �First Report from the Questionnaire on Diaper

In order to get hold of the actual conditions of diaper dermatitis and search for its major factors, a questionnaire about diaper and diaper dermatitis was set out on 1778 babies aged 6 to 30 months old. About 90% of the babies at least once experienced diaper dermatitis. Among the babies with diaper dermatitis, 66% were cured within a few days and 2\% were cleared by a week. The most frequent type of the lesions was perianal-genital type, and its frequency was 63%. Diarrhea, prolongation to clean the anal and surrounding area after defecation. decrease in the frequency of taking bath or changing diaper were the major factors influencing diaper dermatitis assumed by the mothers. The course of diaper dermatitis was prolonged with some patients of eczema. Therefore, to protect from diaper dermatitis, the followings are considered valuable : changing diaper fre-quenntly, cleaning the anal area immediately after defecation and applying topical agents such as zinc oxide-onitment during the condition of diarrhea in order to deffend mucous membrane and surrounding skin.