Urinary incontinence volume measurement in elderly male inpatients

Urinary incontinence is a debilitating disease in the elderly and is a leading cause of nursing home placement for aged patients in our society. Accurate measurement of urinary incontinence in elderly inpatients is necessary to determine the severity of the disease and to evaluate the efficacy of any treatment methods being investigated. The technique required for evaluation of elderly chronic care inpatients is different from methods that can be used in patients who do not have the ambulatory and cortical impairment that is common among chronic care inpatients. Since chronic care nursing staff involvement is necessary for accurate measurement and recording of incontinence episodes, a procedure for measurement must be well defined and clearly outlined in a sequence that can be followed easily. This study provides a method of incontinence volume assessment for elderly inpatients that can be performed by inpatient nursing staff to provide accurate incontinence volume measurements. Quantitative urinary incontinence volume measurements were done over ten days in 42 elderly men. Urinary incontinence presented as a significant problem in these patients over a wide range of both frequency and volume of urinary incontinence episodes. The volume measurement technique described allowed the nursing staff to identify, measure, and record incontinence severity over a wide range of frequency and volume while monitoring multiple patients simultaneously.