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Skin Camouflage for Women Prisoners With Self-Harm Scarring

NCT02638974 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 51

Last updated 2019-10-18

Study results available
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Summary

Women prisoners are more likely to commit suicide or self-harm than women in the community or male prisoners.

Healthcare services have improved how they manage self-harm in the community and prisons. However, there has been little focus on the recovery of people with self-harm scars. Medical skin camouflage (MSC) is a British National Formulary-listed topical cream designed to cover skin conditions. Research on MSC has focused on its use with non-self-harm marks e.g. burns. The evidence from this research suggests that the cream helps women feel better and do more activities. There is little/no evidence about the effects of the preparation for women who self-harm and for prisoners.

This research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Research for Patient Benefit Programme. In the research the investigators will examine whether it is possible and practical to use MSC in prison. The investigators will ask women prisoners and staff what they think about the cream. The research has four parts. In the first part the investigators will run focus groups with women prisoners and prison staff to find out the best way to deliver the MSC intervention and how to measure its effects. In the second part the investigators will design a programme for delivering the MSC. The investigators will then train 6-10 long-term prisoners to become skin camouflage practitioners. The final part will involve a small randomised controlled trial with 40 women prisoners; 20 will be allocated to the intervention group and will use the MSC for 6 weeks. The investigators will measure their mood, thoughts of self-harm and wellbeing before and after they use MSC. The investigators will compare these results with 20 women who have not used MSC (waitlist control group). All women taking part will be placed at random into the control or the treatment group. The control group will receive the MSC after the research has ended.

Potential benefits of this study may be an increase in self-esteem and quality of life for the women prisoners. As women recover they may be less likely to self-harm.

Conditions

  • Self Injurious Behaviour

Interventions

OTHER

Medical Skin Camouflage

Medical skin camouflage is a prescription preparation designed to cover scars and other skin conditions

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Institute for Health Research, United Kingdom

    collaborator OTHER_GOV

  • University of Manchester

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Kathryn Abel, PhD · University of Manchester

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2016-02-29
Primary Completion
2018-06-01
Completion
2018-06-01

Countries

  • United Kingdom

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02638974 on ClinicalTrials.gov