Selecting the correct incontinence pad in nursing home patients by pad weighing

The aim of this study was to identify which types of absorbent pads were being used by the inhabitants of two nursing home wards and to determine to what extent the pads were adapted to the patient's leakage volume. An objective assessment of urinary leakage was performed in all the men (age 80.2 +/- 8.0 years) and women (age 84.8 +/- 6.5 years), from the two wards, who used incontinent aids (n=41). Subjects were assessed by weighing all incontinence aids on a precision weight scale before and after use during a period of 7 days. The number of patients experiencing wetting of external clothing or bedding was recorded. During the assessment period 1146 pads were used and the mean urinary leakage per patient during the day was 260 +/- 212 ml and during the night 413 +/- 230 ml. Wetting of external clothing or bedding occurred during the day time in 16% and in 40% at night time despite the use of pads. Only 22% of the pads were adapted to the patients degree of urinary incontinence. Many of the nursing home inhabitants were using larger pads than necessary. If the pads had been adapted to the patient's urinary leakage volume, costs for incontinence aids would have been reduced by 31%.