Occult urinary incontinence in elderly women and its association with geriatric condition

Many older women are hesitated to initiate discussions about urinary symptoms and their incontinence. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of occult urinary incontinence in outpatient older women and to evaluate its association with other geriatric conditions.

100 female patients 65 years and older were assessed at the geriatric outpatient clinic. The validated form of the Turkish version of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form was used to evaluate urinary incontinence and quality of life. Comprehensive geriatric assessment including activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, mini mental state examination and geriatrics depression scale was performed. The number of falls, comorbid conditions and number of medications were noted. The association between urinary incontinence and geriatric domains were evaluated with logistic regression analysis.

A total of 100 patients were evaluated, 64 of them included in the study. The median age of patients was 72.5. The rate of urinary incontinence was found 40.6%. The association between urinary incontinence and quality of life, performance status and comorbidity was found statistically significant with logistic regression (p = 0.033, p = 0.005, p = 0.031 respectively). Half of the patients with UI believe that it is part of normal aging and no definite treatment is available.

Occult urinary incontinence is a significant problem in older women that inversely affecting the quality of life. The study suggests that awareness and education regarding incontinence should be increased among elderly patients and screening of urinary incontinence is an important part of the geriatric assessment. The evaluation and management of functional status and comorbid conditions should be the initial step during incontinence management in elderly patients.