GLOBIAD (incontinence-associated dermatitis)
Categorizes incontinence-associated dermatitis with the Ghent Global IAD Categorisation Tool.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Skin loss is present
- Yes
Result: category 2A, skin loss with no clinical signs of infection
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Category 1
- Persistent redness, no skin loss. 1A without clinical signs of infection, 1B with them.
- Category 2
- Skin loss. 2A without clinical signs of infection, 2B with them.
- Not a pressure injury
- This is top-down damage over skin that has been wet; a pressure injury is bottom-up over a bony prominence. Writing one up as the other changes the prevention plan.
- The pattern
- Moisture damage is diffuse, with irregular edges, over the perineum, buttocks, groin or inner thighs, and often spares the skin directly over the bone. A pressure injury has distinct edges.
- They can coexist
- The presence of one does not exclude the other, and a patient with both needs both addressed.
- The B subcategory
- Records that signs of infection were seen. It is a prompt to look further, not a diagnosis and not an indication for an antimicrobial on its own.
What you enter
- Skin loss is present (category 2 rather than 1)
- Clinical signs of infection are present (the B subcategory)
- The damage is over a bony prominence (does not change the category; points toward pressure damage)
- The edges are distinct (does not change the category; points toward pressure damage)
How this is calculated
Beeckman D, Van den Bussche K, Alves P, et al. Towards an international language for incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD): design and evaluation of psychometric properties of the Ghent Global IAD Categorisation Tool (GLOBIAD). Br J Dermatol. 2018;178(6):1331-1340. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.