Continued Literature Review

Continued Literature Review

Impact of Urinary Incontinence

Although UI was not an independent factor of decline, it was shown to significantly increase an older adult's risk for death, nursing home admission, and decline in basic and instrumental activities of daily living. Of persons age 60 and older, women experienced UI at least twice as frequently as men. A literature review by Holroyd-Leduc, et al. estimated that 17-55% of older women and 11-34% of older men had experiences of UI. A study by Chiarelli, et al. estimated 35% of community-dwelling older adult women were impacted by UI, as opposed to the 5-10% of men (2009). Although UI appeared to be of great concern for many individuals, it was estimated that less than half of older adults with symptoms reported their concerns to a healthcare provider. Persons with UI often did not seek medical attention for various reasons such as, they believed that UI was a normal part of aging, were unaware of treatment options, had a fear of surgery, or disregarded UI as a problem (Chiarelli, 2009).

Types of Urinary Incontinence

In 1998, the researchers Nasr and Ouslander described five basic types of urinary incontinence: urge incontinence (detrusor incontinence), stress incontinence, mixed incontinence, overflow incontinence, and functional incontinence. Other researchers concurred with all or most of these types of UI. These five types of incontinence are described next.

According to Wagg (2004) detrusor contractile function, bladder capacity, and urinary flow rates appeared to decline with increasing age. Urge incontinence (detrusor incontinence) was described as an abrupt and strong desire to void; it was the most common type of UI experienced by older adult women. Urge incontinence usually resulted from abnormal detrusor muscle contractions, was detectable by a urologist and most often presented with symptoms of urine loss on the way to the ...