Urinary and Faecal Incontinence: Point Prevalence and Predictors in a University Hospital

Marie Condon, Edel Mannion, D. William Molloy and Rónán O’Caoimh
Additional contact information
Marie Condon: Frailty Service, Department of Geriatric and Stroke Medicine, University Hospital Galway, Newcastle Rd, Galway City H91 YR71, Ireland
Edel Mannion: Frailty Service, Department of Geriatric and Stroke Medicine, University Hospital Galway, Newcastle Rd, Galway City H91 YR71, Ireland
D. William Molloy: Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, University College Cork, St Finbarrs Hospital, Douglas road, Cork City T12 XH60, Ireland
Rónán O’Caoimh: Frailty Service, Department of Geriatric and Stroke Medicine, University Hospital Galway, Newcastle Rd, Galway City H91 YR71, Ireland

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-8

Abstract: Incontinence is common and associated with adverse outcomes. There are insufficient point prevalence data for incontinence in hospitals. We evaluated the prevalence of urinary (UI) and faecal incontinence (FI) and their predictors among inpatients in an acute university hospital on a single day. Continence status was recorded using the modified Barthel Index (BI). Baseline characteristics, Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and ward type were recorded. In all, 435 patients were assessed, median age 72 ± 23 years and 53% were male. The median CFS score was 5 ± 3. The point prevalence of UI was 26% versus 11% for FI. While UI and FI increased with age, to 35.2% and 21.1% respectively for those ≥85, age was not an independent predictor. Incontinence also increased with frailty; CFS scores were independently associated with both UI ( p = 0.006) and FI ( p = 0.03), though baseline continence status was the strongest predictor. Patients on orthopaedic wards had the highest prevalence of incontinence. Continence assessments were available for only 11 (2%) patients. UI and FI are common conditions affecting inpatients; point prevalence increases with age and frailty status. Despite this, few patients receive comprehensive continence assessments. More awareness of its high prevalence is required to ensure incontinence is adequately managed in hospitals.

Keywords: urinary; faecal; incontinence; prevalence; hospital; inpatient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/2/194/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/2/194/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:2:p:194-:d:196859

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().