Fecal Incontinence Is Associated With Mortality Among Older Adults With Complex Needs: An Observational Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: Fecal incontinence (FI) is a problem in growing older populations. Validating a suspected association between FI and mortality in community dwelling older adults could lead to improved planning for and management of the increasing complex older population. In a large cohort of New Zealand older adults, we assessed the prevalence of FI, urinary incontinence (UI), combined FI and UI, and their associations with mortality. METHODS: This study consisted of a retrospective analysis of international standardized geriatric assessment-home care (InterRAI-HC) data from community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older, who met the criteria required for the InterRAI-HC, having complex needs and being under consideration for residential care. The prevalence of UI and FI was analyzed. Data were adjusted for demography and 25 confounding factors. Mortality was the primary outcome measure. RESULTS: The total cohort consisted of 41,932 older adults. Both UI and FI were associated with mortality (P<0.001), and risk of mortality increased with increased frequency of incontinence. In the adjusted model, FI remained significantly related to survival (P<0.001), whereas UI did not (P=0.31). Increased frequency of FI was associated with an increased likelihood of death (hazard ratio 1.28). CONCLUSIONS: This large national study is the first study to prove a statistically significant relationship between FI and mortality in a large, old and functionally impaired community. These findings will help improve the management of increasingly complex older populations.

Nocturia in adults: draft New Zealand guidelines for its assessment and management in primary care.

Nocturia is a common bothersome condition. An ad hoc group of interested clinicians from a variety of backgrounds has developed draft guidelines for the assessment and management of this condition in primary care in New Zealand. The guidelines propose four steps in the assessment and management: clinical evaluation; simple investigations; assignment of a provisional diagnosis; and management based on the provisional diagnosis. For nocturnal polyuria-associated nocturia, the draft guidelines recommend that: lifestyle measures should be used as part of the management; if a patient complaining of nocturia has other features of overactive bladder, then bladder retraining and/or anticholinergics can be used; hypnosedatives should not be used to treat nocturia in older adults because of the increased risk of falls; loop diuretics given in the afternoon should be considered for the treatment; and desmopressin can be considered in the management of nocturnal polyuria associated nocturia but that it should be used cautiously in people aged over 65 because of the risk of hyponatraemia. A draft algorithm based on international guidelines is presented.