The objectives of this study were to characterize the odors of used incontinence products by descriptive analysis and to define attributes to be used in the analysis. A further objective was to investigate to what extent the odor profiles of used incontinence products differed from each other and, if possible, to group these profiles into classes.
Used incontinence products were collected from 14 residents with urinary incontinence living in geriatric nursing homes in the Gothenburg area, Sweden.
Pieces were cut from the wet area of used incontinence products. They were placed in glass bottles and kept frozen until odor analysis was completed. A trained panel consisting of 8 judges experienced in this area of investigation defined terminology for odor attributes. The intensities of these attributes in the used products were determined by descriptive odor analysis. Data were analyzed both by analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Tukey post hoc test and by principal component analysis and cluster analysis.
An odor wheel, with 10 descriptive attributes, was developed. The total odor intensity, and the intensities of the attributes, varied considerably between different, used incontinence products. The typical odors varied from "sweetish" to "urinal," "ammonia," and "smoked." Cluster analysis showed that the used products, based on the quantitative odor data, could be divided into 5 odor classes with different profiles.
The used products varied considerably in odor character and intensity. Findings suggest that odors in used absorptive products are caused by different types of compounds that may vary in concentration.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.
Journal of wound, ostomy, and continence nursing : official publication of The Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society. 2017 Mar 21 [Epub ahead of print]
Heléne Widén, Susanne Alenljung, Ulla Forsgren-Brusk, Gunnar Hall
Heléne Widén, PhD, Sensory and Flavor Science, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Food and Bioscience, Gothenburg, Sweden. Susanne Alenljung, MSc, Hygiene and Odor, SCA Hygiene Products AB, Gothenburg, Sweden. Ulla Forsgren-Brusk, MSc, Hygiene and Odor, SCA Hygiene Products AB, Gothenburg, Sweden. Gunnar Hall, PhD, Sensory and Flavor Science, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Food and Bioscience, Gothenburg, Sweden.