THE PREVALENCE OF CHAPPED LIPS DURING AN ARMY HOT WEATHER EXERCISE

Objectives: To identify risk factors associated with chapped lips in s oldiers during prolonged exposure to a hot, dry environment, Methods: We examined 1,053 of 2,500 soldiers (42%) participating in a desert tr aining exercise at Fort Irwin, California, in September 1983, We measu red the prevalence of chapped lips during the third week of a 4-week t raining period, Our independent variables (complexion, sex, lip protec tant use, age, and the prevalence of recurrent herpes labialis) were o btained by observation and interview, Results: We found severe chappin g in 150 (10%) and moderate chapping in 247 (23.5%) of the soldiers. S tepwise ordinal logistic regression was used to identify risk factors associated with chapped lips and to determine the prevalence odds rati os (OR), Risk factors with statistically significant associations with chapped lips were the presence of recurrent herpes labialis (OR = 2.8 8), very fair complexion (OR = 3.23), and fair complexion (OR = 1.58), Conclusions: Moderate to severe chapping occurred in approximately on e-third of the soldiers. Lip protectants appeared to be relatively ine ffective in the prevention and treatment of chapped lips but were asso ciated with a lower prevalence of recurrent herpes labialis.