Friction underwear was developed by adding small silicon dots in front of the underwear to decrease the time for pulling down underwear in elderly patients with urge incontinence. We studied about the effects of the friction underwear for elderly overactive bladder (OAB) patients.

Male patients over 60 years of age diagnosed with OAB were prospectively enrolled and randomized to either the friction underwear first group (measuring for the time taken to pull down the friction underwear first and the non-friction underwear second) or the friction underwear later group (non-friction underwear first and the friction underwear second). An investigator measured the time to pulling down the underwear. And we measured the coefficient of friction of underwear.

A total of 56 male patients were randomly divided into two groups using a random number table envelope method. There were no significant differences in demographics and clinical characteristics between the two groups. Of the total 56 patients, the time taken to pull down underwear for the friction underwear (3.79±0.15 seconds) was found significantly shorter than that for the non-friction underwear (4.10±0.17 seconds) (p=0.03). The static and dynamic coefficients of friction of the friction were 4.21 and 2.88, respectively, while those of the non-friction underwear were 0.64 and 0.45, respectively.

Our study demonstrates that friction underwear significantly shortened the time to pull down underwear. This functional underwear may be effective in preventing the underwear from getting wet in patients who suffer from urge incontinence.

Investigative and clinical urology. 2019 Apr 01 [Epub]

Jae Hyung You, Yu Seob Shin, Myoung-Hwan Ko, Eun Jin Jeon, Heecheon You, Jong Kwan Park

Department of Urology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Chonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute and Clinical Trial Center of Medical Device of Chonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea., Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Chonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute and Clinical Trial Center of Medical Device of Chonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea., Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Korea.

X