The Rothwell scale, or Rothwell system, or Rothwell method, applied to

incontinence Incontinence or Incontinent may refer to: *Fecal incontinence, the involuntary excretion of bowel contents *Urinary incontinence, the involuntary excretion of urine * Lack of moderation or self-control, especially related to sexual desire - see I ...

care products, is a scale that shows how absorbent a particular

incontinence pad An incontinence pad is a small, impermeable multi-layered sheet with high absorbency that is used in the incontinence and health-care industries as a precaution against fecal or urinary incontinence. It is generally made of cotton if washable, or p ...

adult diaper An adult diaper (or adult nappy in Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a diaper made to be worn by a person with a body larger than that of an infant or toddler. Diapers can be necessary for adults with various conditions, ...

is, and how much liquid it can absorb and hold before it is likely to leak due to overfill. The system provides a quick reference for assessing how much liquid can be held by a sheet, pad or

diaper A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ (American and Canadian English) or a nappy ( Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate Defecation (or defaecation) follows dig ...

, and therefore how appropriate it will be for a particular individual in any given circumstance. The scale is based on the total absorbency test

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

11948–1. The scale runs from 1 to 22, with 1 indicating the least liquid absorbed, measured in grams, and 22 the most liquid absorbed. The scale also applies a prefix to show what type of product is being referred to, with pads and sheets having an “I” prefix, and all in one diapers using a D prefix. {, class="wikitable" style="border: none; background: none;" ! Scale !! Absorbency !! rowspan="16" style="border: none; background: none;", ! Scale !! Absorbency !! rowspan="10" style="border: none; background: none;", , - , I1 , , 0g to 49g , , D14 , , 1300g to 1699g , - , I2 , , 50g to 99g , , D15 , , 1700g to 2099g , - , I3 , , 100g to 199g , , D16 , , 2100g to 2499g , - , I4 , , 200g to 299g , , D17 , , 2500g to 2899g , - , I5 , , 300g to 449g , , D18 , , 2900g to 3299g , - , I6 , , 450g to 599g , , D19 , , 3300g to 3699g , - , I7 , , 600g to 799g , , D20 , , 3700g to 4099g , - , I8 , , 800g to 999g , , D21 , , 4100g to 4499g , - , I9 , , 1000g to 1249g , , D22 , , 4500g to 4899g , - , I10 , , 1250g to 1499g , - , I11 , , 1500g to 1799g , - , I12 , , 1800g to 2099g , - , I13 , , 2100g to 2499g , - , I14 , , 2500g to 2899g , - , I15 , , 2900g to 3299g

References

* M Fader, A Cottenden, K Getliffe, H Gage, S Clarke-O’Neill, K Jamieson, N Green, P Williams, R Brooks and J Malone-Lee
"Absorbent products for urinary/faecal incontinence: a comparative evaluation of key product designs"
''Health Technology Assessment'', vol. 12, no. 29, 2008. * A.M Cottenden, J.G Rothwell, H Leander, C Grau, R.J Brooks
"An investigation of the repeatability and reproducibility of ISO 11948-1 (the Rothwell method) for measuring the absorption capacity of incontinence pads"
''Medical Engineering & Physics'', vol. 24, iss. 2, pp. 159–163, March 2002. * ISO 11948-1:1996

''International Organization for Standardization'', 1996 Incontinence