ISO 16021:2024

International
Standard
ISO 16021
Second edition
Absorbent incontinence products
2024-03
for urine and/or faeces — Basic
principles for evaluation of single-
use adult products from the
perspective of users and caregivers
Reference number
© ISO 2024
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: +41 22 749 01 11
Email: copyright@iso.org
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Creating the evaluation protocol . 2
4.1 Questionnaires .2
4.2 Selection of products.2
4.3 Selection of users .2
4.4 Sample size .3
4.5 E valuation period .3
4.6 Product evaluation strategy .3
5 Data-gathering tools . 3
5.1 Data requirements .3
5.2 Demographic data .4
5.3 Product evaluation data .4
5.3.1 Product evaluation questionnaire .4
5.3.2 Product diary .5
5.4 Product description data .5
5.5 Other documentation.5
6 User trial procedure . . 5
6.1 Pilot studies .5
6.2 Preparations .5
7 Data collection . . 6
7.1 Demographic data .6
7.2 Product performance data .6
7.2.1 Product evaluation questionnaire .6
7.2.2 Product change diary .6
7.3 User withdrawal . .6
7.4 Product description data .7
7.5 Other documentation.7
8 E v a lu at ion r ep or t . 7
Bibliography .11

iii
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through
ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee
has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely
with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent
rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a)
patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that
this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 173, Assistive products, Subcommittee SC 3,
Aids for ostomy and incontinence, in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN)
Technical Committee CEN/TC 293, Assistive products and accessibility, in accordance with the Agreement on
technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 16021:2000), which has been technically
revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— clarified the scope;
— added references to new relevant standards;
— updated reference list;
— terminology has been harmonized with ISO 22748.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

iv
Introduction
This document provides basic principles for conducting user evaluations of single-use, body-worn urine-
absorbing products for adult incontinent users, their caregivers, or both. It gives guidance for users or
caregivers in evaluating products in actual use and can be used for comparing products. EDANA has provided
[4]
useful guidelines on the evaluation of baby diapers many of which apply equally to absorbent products for
adult incontinence. Whether a user evaluation or a clinical investigation is planned, it is important to check
if ethics committee approval will be required.
The comparison of user evaluation data obtained from evaluating several products is statistically complex
and highly dependent upon the information desired from the evaluation, the differences between or among
products, and the size of the user population used in the evaluation, to mention only three important factors.
Direct comparison between products based on statistical parameters is not covered by this document.
This document is based upon an extensive body of data and experimentation on the ways in which evaluation
of incontinence products by users can be done to gain useful information on the acceptability of products for
a variety of purposes. Selected references are given in the Bibliography as an aid to the user of this document
in applying it to particular situations of interest.

v
International Standard ISO 16021:2024(en)
Absorbent incontinence products for urine and/or faeces —
Basic principles for evaluation of single-use adult products
from the perspective of users and caregivers
1 Scope
This document provides guidelines and requirements for designing and conducting an evaluation of single-
use adult incontinence absorbing products. It provides guidelines and requirements on creating data
collection tools. In particular, it provides a framework for eliciting and recording the views of users and
their carers on the acceptability of products. In addition, a product diary is described which can help to
quantify some parameters of product use, such as wear times, the mass of urine absorbed by the product
and the severity of any leakage from it.
This document does not cover direct comparison between products based on statistical parameters, neither
does it provide guidelines on measuring the clinical efficacy of products; that is available in ISO 14155.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
caregiver
person who assists user(s) with applying and changing absorbent incontinence products (3.5)
Note 1 to entry: Caregivers can be paid staff or family/friends.
3.2
ethics committee
body whose role is to protect the interests of evaluation subjects ‒ particularly in institutions ‒ by inspecting
proposed evaluation protocols
Note 1 to entry: Ethics committee permission is normally required before an evaluation can begin.
3.3
evaluation centre coordinator
person in charge of the evaluation in a given centre
3.4
principal investigator
person in overall charge of an evaluation
...