Effectiveness of body powder for preventing groin rash among conscripts
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Abstract
Background: Groin rashes from Tinea cruris, Intertrigo, Erythrasma, and Candidiasis are common skin diseases in military careers. Although the diseases are not so fatal, they affect training efficiency and quality of life of soldiers. At present, there is still no study about the effectiveness of the anti-rash powder among military personnel in Thailand.
Objective: 1) To compare the incidence rate of groin rash between conscripts who use the anti-rash powder (experimental group) with those who use a commercial body powder (control group), and 2) To study the incidence of adverse events in the conscripts from powder use in both the experimental and control groups.
Method: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among the selected 11 military training units in Bangkok, of which 7 and 4 units (with the accompanying eligible 937 and 911 conscripts recruited) were allocated into the experimental and control groups respectively. The powder use period was 10 weeks, during which the military training nurses in each training unit were requested to assess the occurrence of groin rash among the conscripts biweekly. Conscripts with newly developed groin rash were sent for further examination and treatment from a dermatologist at the Dermatology Department of Phramongkutklao Hospital.
Results: New groin rashes were developed among 217 and 276 conscripts respectively in the experimental and control groups. The corresponding incidence rates of 23.16 and 30.30 cases per 100 people per 10 weeks, which were statistical significantly different (p = 0.001). Further analysis by taking into account the potential confounding factors (age, educational level, history of previous fungal infection, and history of getting into the water during the previous two weeks), the adjusted rate ratio (95% Confidence interval) was 0.76 (0.63, 0.90) (p = 0.002). In addition, the potential complicating symptoms were not more frequent among the experimental than the control groups.
Conclusions: The anti-rash body powder is effective in preventing the groin rash among military conscripts in Thailand.
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References
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