title: Baby oil therapy for uremic pruritus in haemodialysis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of chilled/un-chilled baby oil therapy for treating uremic pruritus in haemodialysis patients.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Uremic pruritus affects 50-90% of haemodialysis patients, which makes it one of the most common medical problems in this population. Pruritus can cause skin infection, desquamation, pathological skin change, sleep disorder, anxiety, depression and social dysfunction.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, pretest-post-test quasi-experimental design was used.
  
  
  METHODS
  Haemodialysis patients with uremic pruritus were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three groups: experimental group 1 (chilled baby oil treatment; n = 30), experimental group 2 (un-chilled baby oil treatment; n = 31) and a control group (routine care only; n = 32). Participants in experimental group 1 and experimental group 2 were treated with chilled and un-chilled baby oil, respectively, for 15 minutes at least once daily for three weeks. The control group received no intervention other than standard care. Data collection included demographic data and itch severity. Medical records were also reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The baseline characteristics of subjects in this study were as follows: 59% were male, mean age was 61·88 (SD 12·7) years, mean duration of haemodialysis was 5·31 years, mean duration of uremic pruritus was 40·58 (SD 37·8) months and mean intensity of uremic pruritus was mild. The anti-pruritic effects were significantly larger in subjects treated with either chilled or un-chilled baby oil than in those who received routine care. Anti-pruritic effects did not significantly differ between experimental group 1 and experimental group 2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study confirmed that, for relieving pruritus in haemodialysis patients, either chilled or un-chilled baby oil is as effective as moisturising lotions and cooling soothing agents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Applying baby oil is a simple, safe, inexpensive and easily administered treatment for itchy skin in haemodialysis patients. By preventing or reducing uremic pruritus, baby oil treatment may also improve quality of life in this patient group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, Chia-Yi, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Chen
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yu-Hung
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Su-Er
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Chin-Fang
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jer-Chia
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: How-Ran
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Hsin-Tien
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009821:Oils; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011537:Pruritus / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D014511:Uremia / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D009821:Oils