Management of Demented Patients with Urinary Incontinence: A Case Study

To assess whether a demented patient with urinary incontinence (UI) could learn to use an adapted version of timed voiding (i.e., instead of being led by a caregiver, the patient learns to perform timed voiding by herself). Indeed, UI affects a large number of patients with dementia and creates a substantial burden to the caregiver. UI is the most common complaint at the time of institutionalization and it is often the cause of premature institutionalization. Timed voiding is a promising intervention, but one whose effectiveness remains to be demonstrated. Additionally, timed voiding has the disadvantage of being constraining for caregivers, requiring them to be present to stimulate the patient to urinate at each of the scheduled occasions.

The present intervention required the patient to learn (1) to associate an auditory signal from a timer to the action of urination, (2) to reprogram the timer, using the spaced retrieval technique. An ABAB paradigm was used to assess the effectiveness of this program to eliminate urinary accidents.

The results of the intervention showed that the use of the timer was effective in helping the patient to reduce her urinary leaks from 1.5 diurnal accidents per week to zero during four months.

UI in patients with dementia seems treatable. Such intervention could contribute to delay institutionalization of patients with dementia through maintaining their autonomy and reducing the burden of caregivers.