Care Needs of Older Adults With Urinary Incontinence: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PURPOSE: To explore care requirements of older adults with urinary incontinence (UI) and contributing factors. METHOD: This cross-sectional study used the Older Adults Urinary Incontinence Care Needs Inventory to survey participants with UI in three large-scale tertiary hospitals located in Guangzhou City, China, from January 2023 to November 2023. Statistical analyses, including analysis of variance, t tests, correlation analyses, and linear regression models, were conducted to assess factors influencing participants' care needs. RESULTS: A total of 530 older adults with UI participated in the survey and mean standardized score for overall care needs was 78.65 (SD = 5.01), with mean scores for each dimension ranging from 70.88 (SD = 10.55) for social participation needs to 82.45 (SD = 7.11) for health education needs. Factors that were found to influence incontinence care needs in older adults included age, literacy level, number of leaks, and type of disease (F = 37.07, adjusted R2 = 0.290, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Comprehensive care for older adults with UI, encompassing physiological, psychological, and social aspects, is crucial. It is essential to tailor care to individual needs and characteristics, taking into account factors, such as age and education, to ensure effective care. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 50(5), 43-49.].

Fatores inerentes ao surgimento da incontinência urinária no idoso hospitalizado analisados à luz da tríade donabediana / Factores relacionados al surgimiento de la incontinencia urinaria en el anciano hospitalizado analizados a la luz de la tríade donabediana / Factors inherent to the onset of urinary incontinence in the hospitalized elderly patients analyzed in the light of the Donabedian's triad

RESUMO Objetivo Apreender os fatores relacionados ao surgimento e/ou piora da incontinência urinária no idoso hospitalizado, considerando a tríade donabediana. Método Estudo qualitativo, descritivo, realizado com enfermeiros e técnicos de enfermagem de um hospital público universitário. Os dados foram coletados por meio da técnica de grupo focal; para tratamento e análise foi utilizada a análise de conteúdo, com posterior codificação das unidades de registro no software WebQDA, relacionando o corpus obtido com os pilares donabedianos. Resultados Os fatores relacionados ao surgimento e/ou piora da incontinência urinária na pessoa idosa hospitalizada mais relatados estavam interligados ao pilar estrutura, com destaque para o atributo recursos humanos, seguido dos atributos recursos materiais e estrutura física; o segundo pilar donabediano que teve maior associação com os relatos foi o pilar processo e, por último, o pilar resultado. Conclusão A identificação dos fatores relacionados ao desfecho investigado no cenário hospitalar proporcionou a reflexão e sensibilização dos participantes com relação ao problema, sendo possível, assim, propor medidas e intervenções a fim de minimizá-lo e de garantir um cuidado seguro e de qualidade ao idoso hospitalizado.

RESUMEN Objetivo Comprender los factores relacionados al surgimiento y/o agravación de la incontinencia urinaria en el anciano hospitalizado, considerando la tríade donabediana. Método Estudio cualitativo, descriptivo, realizado con enfermeros y técnicos de enfermería de un hospital público universitario. Los datos fueron reunidos por medio de la técnica de grupo focal; para tratamiento y análisis se utilizó el análisis de contenido y, luego, la codificación de las unidades de registro en el software WebQDA, haciendo un puente entre el corpus obtenido con los pilares donabedianos. Resultados Los factores relacionados al surgimiento y/o agravación de la incontinencia urinaria en los ancianos hospitalizados más relatados se refieren al pilar estructura, con énfasis en los recursos humanos; enseguida vienen los recursos materiales y estructura física; el segundo pilar donabediano con mayor relación con los relatos fue el pilar proceso y, finalmente, el pilar resultado. Conclusión La identificación de los factores relacionados al desenlace investigado en el escenario hospitalario, proporcionaron la reflexión y sensibilización de los participantes con relación al problema, por lo que propuso medidas e intervenciones para minimizarlo y garantizar un cuidado seguro y de calidad al anciano hospitalizado.

ABSTRACT Objective To apprehend the factors related to the onset and/or worsening of urinary incontinence in the hospitalized elderly patient, considering the Donabedian's triad. Method This is a qualitative, descriptive study, conducted with nurses and nursing technicians from a public university hospital. Data were collected using the focus group technique; content analysis was used for treatment and analysis, with subsequent coding of the registration units in the software WebQDA, relating the corpus obtained with the Donabedian's pillars. Results The most reported factors related to the onset and/or worsening of urinary incontinence in hospitalized elderly patients were linked to the pillar structure, with emphasis on the attribute human resources, followed by the attributes material resources and physical structure; the second Donabedian's pillar with the greatest association with the reports was process and, finally, the pillar outcome. Conclusion The identification of factors related to the outcome investigated in the hospital environment provided the participants with reflection and awareness about the problem, therefore allowing the proposition of measures and interventions to minimize it and ensure safe and quality care to the hospitalized elderly patient.

Managing Urinary Incontinence.

This article is part of a series, Supporting Family Caregivers: No Longer Home Alone, published in collaboration with the AARP Public Policy Institute. Results of focus groups, conducted as part of the AARP Public Policy Institute's No Longer Home Alone video project, supported evidence that family caregivers aren't given the information they need to manage the complex care regimens of family members. This series of articles and accompanying videos aims to help nurses provide caregivers with the tools they need to manage their family member's health care at home.The articles in this new installment of the series provide simple and useful instructions that nurses should reinforce with family caregivers. This article is the second of two that provide an update on urinary incontinence and its management in older adults. It includes an informational tear sheet-Information for Family Caregivers-that contains links to the instructional videos. To use this series, nurses should read the articles first, so they understand how best to help family caregivers, and then encourage caregivers to watch the videos and ask questions. For additional information, see Resources for Nurses.

Nursing assessment and management of incontinence among medical and surgical adult patients in a tertiary hospital: a best practice implementation project.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this implementation project were to review the nursing assessment and management of adult patients with urinary and fecal incontinence, and to develop local guidelines and ward-based continence assessment tools to assist nursing staff in assessing and managing incontinence. INTRODUCTION: Urinary or fecal incontinence in acute care hospitals is a growing issue that can lead to constipation, depression, breakdown of skin integrity, increased nursing home placement of older patients, increased length of hospital stay, and escalated healthcare costs. In many cases, incontinence can be treated and managed effectively; however, it is poorly understood and under-prioritized in many hospital settings. METHODS: A pre-post intervention chart audit was conducted to review compliance with 10 best-practice criteria for incontinence assessment and management. Following baseline data analysis, barriers to compliance with the criteria were identified and subsequently addressed using targeted strategies. The project utilized the JBI Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System (PACES) and the Getting Research into Practice (GRiP) tools. RESULTS: Education on continence strategies was delivered to nursing staff, which resulted in improved compliance for all audit criteria. There were notable improvements in the nursing documentation, and assessment and management of patients with urinary and/or fecal incontinence in the post-intervention analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that nursing education and formalized assessment pathways in an acute setting can improve nursing compliance with the assessment and management of patients with either urinary or fecal incontinence to ensure safe, compassionate and person-centered care.

Meeting report: optimising procurement of continence pads.

A group of continence care experts attended a round table to identify best practice for awarding a contract for disposable continence products. Here, Tracy Cowan, JWC Consultant Editor, describes the outcomes.

Benefits of nurse-led continence prescription services for effective stock management and streamlined prescribing.

The UK has an ageing population, and with continence-related issues expected to rise, there will be increasing demands for specialist input within nurse-led continence prescription services. Continence nurse specialists can apply expert product knowledge to ensure patients are prescribed bladder and bowel appliances that are of high quality, the most appropriate product for the patient and also cost effective. The management of catheter drainage and fixation supplies can be challenging, particularly for services managing caseloads of multiple patients living with catheters. Ugo 4 Weeks has been created to help streamline the process of ordering continence products and reducing appliance wastage for catheterised patients living in the community setting. Each box provides a 4-week supply of catheter drainage and fixation supplies and can be prescribed on a single prescription. It enables better control over stock levels, reducing the risk of accidental over-ordering and stockpiling, thereby generating significant cost savings.

Urinary Incontinence in a National Cohort of Older Women: Implications for Caregiving and Care Dependence.

BACKGROUND: Urinary incontinence (UI) can interfere with older women's ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), but little is known about factors that predispose incontinent women to become functionally dependent or compromise their ability to serve as caregivers to others. STUDY DESIGN: UI, caregiving, and care-receiving behaviors were assessed by questionnaire in a national sample of community-dwelling older women. Multivariable models evaluated associations between incontinence and care dependence, assessed factors associated with care dependence among incontinent women, and compared health among female caregivers with and without incontinence. RESULTS: Of the 1703 women, 27% reported weekly or more incontinence and 13% monthly incontinence. Women with weekly or more incontinence were more likely than women without incontinence to report receiving care for ADLs (AOR = 2.39, CI = 1.61-3.56) or instrumental ADLs (AOR = 1.94, CI = 1.42-2.63). Compared to 46% of women without incontinence, 60% of women with monthly or weekly incontinence reported unmet care needs (p = 0.0002). Factors associated with care dependence included more frequent incontinence, older age, marital status, and fair/poor health (p < 0.05 for all). Overall, 15% of women served as a caregiver for another adult, which did not differ by incontinence status (p = 0.84), but female caregivers with incontinence reported worse health than those without incontinence (p = 0.0004). CONCLUSIONS: In this national cohort, older women with incontinence were more likely to be functionally dependent and have unmet care needs than those without incontinence, after adjustment for other factors. At least one in ten incontinent women served as caregivers, despite having worse health than female caregivers without incontinence.

Incidence and Predictors of Incontinence-Associated Skin Damage in Nursing Home Residents With New-Onset Incontinence.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and predictors of incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) in nursing home residents. METHODS: Records of a cohort of 10,713 elderly (≥65 years) newly incontinent nursing home residents in 448 nursing homes in 28 states free of IAD were followed up for IAD development. Potential multilevel predictors of IAD were identified in 4 national datasets containing information about the characteristics of individual nursing home residents, nursing home care environment, and communities in which the nursing homes were located. A unique set of health practitioner orders provided information about IAD and the predictors of IAD prevention and pressure injuries in the extended perineal area. Analysis was based on hierarchical logistical regression. RESULTS: The incidence of IAD was 5.5%. Significant predictors of IAD were not receiving preventive interventions for IAD, presence of a perineal pressure injury, having greater functional limitations in activities of daily living, more perfusion problems, and lesser cognitive deficits. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight the importance of prevention of IAD and treatment/prevention of pressure injuries. A WOC nurse offers expertise in these interventions and can educate staff about IAD predictors, which can improve resident outcomes. Other recommendations include implementing plans of care to improve functional status, treat perfusion problems, and provide assistance with incontinence and skin care to residents with milder as well as greater cognitive deficits.

Cost-Effectiveness of Including a Nurse Specialist in the Treatment of Urinary Incontinence in Primary Care in the Netherlands.

OBJECTIVE: Incontinence is an important health problem. Effectively treating incontinence could lead to important health gains in patients and caregivers. Management of incontinence is currently suboptimal, especially in elderly patients. To optimise the provision of incontinence care a global optimum continence service specification (OCSS) was developed. The current study evaluates the costs and effects of implementing this OCSS for community-dwelling patients older than 65 years with four or more chronic diseases in the Netherlands. METHOD: A decision analytic model was developed comparing the current care pathway for urinary incontinence in the Netherlands with the pathway as described in the OCSS. The new care strategy was operationalised as the appointment of a continence nurse specialist (NS) located with the general practitioner (GP). This was assumed to increase case detection and to include initial assessment and treatment by the NS. The analysis used a societal perspective, including medical costs, containment products (out-of-pocket and paid by insurer), home care, informal care, and implementation costs. RESULTS: With the new care strategy a QALY gain of 0.005 per patient is achieved while saving €402 per patient over a 3 year period from a societal perspective. In interpreting these findings it is important to realise that many patients are undetected, even in the new care situation (36%), or receive care for containment only. In both of these groups no health gains were achieved. CONCLUSION: Implementing the OCSS in the Netherlands by locating a NS in the GP practice is likely to reduce incontinence, improve quality of life, and reduce costs. Furthermore, the study also highlighted that various areas of the continence care process lack data, which would be valuable to collect through the introduction of the NS in a study setting.

Is it Feasible to Use Incontinence-Associated Dermatitis Assessment Tools in Routine Clinical Practice in the Long-term Care Setting?

PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility of using incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) tools in routine clinical practice by asking nursing home staff (RNs and non-RN caregivers) and tissue viability specialty (TVS) nurses to evaluate 3 instruments and a 4-point severity scoring system for describing and grading IAD examples captured in photographs of skin underneath absorptive pads in nursing home patients. DESIGN: Feasibility study. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Twelve female nursing home residents whose incontinence was managed with pads and who had previously been identified as experiencing IAD were recruited, along with 16 nursing home staff (6 RNs and 10 non-RNs) and 10 TVS nurses. METHODS: Weekly high-quality photographs were taken of the skin beneath absorptive pads of nursing home residents for 8 weeks yielding a library of 78 photographs. A subset of 10 representative photographs was chosen. The 16 nursing home staff and 10 TVS nurses were then asked to describe and grade the IAD in the 10 photographs using 3 IAD instruments and simple severity scoring system (SSS) developed for this study. Particular attention was paid to identifying any practical challenges staff encountered in conducting their task. RESULTS: The TVS nurses were able to use all 3 IAD instruments and the SSS and reported that they could incorporate them into their clinical practice with relative ease. Although the RNs were able to use the 3 instruments adequately with some initial assistance, they generally felt that they were too busy to complete them. By contrast, they reported that they found the SSS simple and quick enough to incorporate into their routine practice. The caregivers had difficulty with the text-based instruments, especially if English was not their first language, and they were only able to use the SSS. The caregivers' SSS scores for a given photograph varied more than TVS nurse scores, but the correlation between the mean TVS scores, which were operationally defined as the gold standard for purposes of this study, and the mean RN and caregiver scores (R = 0.811) were fairly high. CONCLUSIONS: Existing IAD instruments are too time-consuming and linguistically complex for use in routine clinical practice in nursing homes. We found that staff generally found the SSS easy to judge IAD severity based on pictures used in the study. This finding suggests that the SSS could be improved by adding reference photographs of skin illustrating each of the 4 points on the scale. Such an instrument could be designed and validated with an emphasis on integration into current clinical practice pathways.

Systematic review of systematic reviews for the management of urinary incontinence and promotion of continence using conservative behavioural approaches in older people in care homes.

AIM: To synthesize evidence from systematic reviews on the management of urinary incontinence and promotion of continence using conservative/behavioural approaches in older people in care homes to inform clinical practice, guidelines and research. BACKGROUND: Incontinence is highly prevalent in older people in care home populations. DESIGN: Systematic review of systematic reviews with narrative synthesis. DATA SOURCES: Electronic searches of published systematic reviews in English using MEDLINE and CINAHL with no date restrictions up to September 2013. Searches supplemented by hand searching and electronic searching of Cochrane Library and PROSPERO. REVIEW METHODS: PRISMA statement was followed, as were established methods for systematic review of systematic reviews. RESULTS: Five systematic reviews of high quality were included, three specific to intervention studies and two reviewed descriptive studies. Urinary incontinence was the primary outcome in three reviews with factors associated with the management of urinary incontinence the primary outcome for the other reviews. CONCLUSION: Toileting programmes, in particular prompted voiding, with use of incontinence pads are the main conservative behavioural approach for the management of incontinence and promotion of continence in this population with evidence of effectiveness in the short term. Evidence from associated factors; exercise, mobility, comorbidities, hydration, skin care, staff perspectives, policies and older people's experiences and preference are limited. The majority of evidence of effectiveness are from studies from one country which may or may not be transferable to other care home populations. Future international studies are warranted of complex combined interventions using mixed methods to provide evidence of effectiveness, context of implementation and economic evaluation.

[Morbidity differences according to nursing stage and nursing setting in long-term care patients: Results of a claims data based study]. / Morbiditätsunterschiede bei Pflegebedürftigen in Abhängigkeit von Pflegesektor und Pflegestufe: Eine Untersuchung auf der Basis von Abrechnungsdaten der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung.

BACKGROUND: We analyzed the differences in morbidity patterns of chronic diseases between long-term care dependent persons in nursing homes compared to those dwelling in the community. We also investigated morbidity differences between long-term care need stages in Germany. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included claims data of one nationwide operating statutory health insurance in 2006. Inclusion criteria were age ≥ 65 years, minimum 1 out of 46 diagnoses in at least 3 quarters of the year (n = 8,670). A comparison population was formed with n = 114,962. Prevalences, relative risks, and odds ratios for the risk of nursing home care were calculated. RESULTS: In the bivariate analysis, only three chronic diseases - dementia, urinary incontinence, and chronic heart failure - showed a higher risk for nursing home care. Regression analysis revealed that only dementia showed higher odds related to the stage of nursing needs. CONCLUSION: Among the chronic diseases, only dementia shows a substantially elevated risk for nursing home care. Risk studies on other chronic diseases associated with higher risks of long-term care dependency and specific intervention strategies aiming at delaying or preventing nursing home admission should be developed.

A simulation comparing the cost-effectiveness of adult incontinence products.

PURPOSE: To compare leak point volumes and cost-effectiveness of a variety of adult incontinence products. METHODS: Adult incontinence products were purchased from local retail stores and categorized into moderate absorbency pads, moderate absorbency briefs, maximum absorbency pads, and maximum absorbent briefs. The leak point for each product was determined by applying fluid to the pad until the first drop of leakage from the pad or brief occurred. Cost-effectiveness was calculated by dividing the cost per product by the amount of fluid absorbed prior to the leak point. The leak points and cost-effectiveness of incontinence products were compared within and between categories. RESULTS: Significant differences in leak point volumes were present within all product categories except moderate absorbency pads. When comparing product categories, moderate absorbency pads were the least cost-effective, followed by maximum absorbency pads and absorbent briefs (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: As a group, absorbent briefs are more cost-effective than incontinence pads, although products of similar absorbency category and design demonstrated varying leak points and cost-effectiveness. These findings may influence physician assessment of urinary incontinence as well as patient selection of incontinence products.

An exploration of the effects of introducing a telemonitoring system for continence assessment in a nursing home.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the effects of introducing a telemonitoring and care planning system for urinary continence assessment in a nursing home and adherence by care staff to urinary continence care plans. BACKGROUND: Only a few studies have explored the effect of introducing telemonitoring system on urinary continence care, none for older people in nursing homes. DESIGN: Pre- and postintervention repeated measures design. METHODS: Data for the study were collected from August-October 2011. Care staff were trained in the use of a telemonitoring system for continence assessment. Voiding events for each older person were recorded using the system during a 72-hour urinary continence assessment, and the data were used to prepare an individualised care plan. After two weeks of using the new care plan, a second assessment was carried out for each older person, using the telemonitoring system. RESULTS: The participants were on average 81 years old and assessed as having high care needs. The statistically significant outcomes were as follows: reduced volume of urine voided into continence aids, reduced number of prescribed toileting visits, increased number of actual toilet visits, increased number of successful toileting events and increased adherence to urinary continence care plans by staff. CONCLUSIONS: During a 12-week trial, urinary continence assessment and management of older people were improved. This suggests that the introduction of a suitably designed telemonitoring system combined with staff training can improve urinary continence care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results suggest that nursing homes can improve continence assessment and management practices by adopting an appropriately designed mobile, wireless telemonitoring system for continence assessment and providing the associated staff training programmes.

Factors with the management of incontinence and promotion of continence in older people in care homes.

AIM: Review of intervention studies of associated factors with incontinence as the primary outcome in older people in care homes to identify and inform practice and future research. BACKGROUND: Incontinence is highly prevalent among care home populations. Previous reviews of descriptive and intervention studies have used urinary incontinence as the primary outcome. DESIGN: Systematic review and narrative summary. DATA SOURCES: Electronic searches of English empirical studies undertaken using MEDLINE and CINAHL from January 1966-May 2010. All relevant empirical designs were selected from MEDLINE highly sensitive search strings from the Cochrane Incontinence Review Group, modified to exclude surgical and pharmacological studies REVIEW METHODS: The PRISMA statement was followed and established methods for systematic review to produce a narrative summary. RESULTS: Nine studies identified relating to associated factors with the management of incontinence in care homes. Factors included economic data, skin care, exercise studies, staff quality and prompted voiding adherence and the promotion of continence by the management of dehydration and incontinence. CONCLUSION: Managing incontinence and promoting continence in care homes is complex, requiring time and cost-efficient management procedures to contain the problem and deliver quality, achievable care. When developing and designing systems of care in care homes, it is important to also recognize the impact of associated factors. As with any healthcare intervention programme, resources are required to implement the protocols. Economic evaluation studies are limited, with further studies warranted alongside preventative studies to maintain long-term continence in these populations.