[Management of voiding dysfunction in elderly patients: effectiveness of rehabilitation and familial care]

We examined whether the improvement of impaired mobility correlates with the success rate in achievement of catheter-free or diaper-free status of 260 hospitalized elderly patients whose activities in daily life (ADL) were impaired and urinary tract dysfunctions including urinary incontinence were managed by indwelling catheters or diapers. The contribution of physical rehabilitation and/or care given by family to the improvement of impaired mobility was also investigated. All 154 patients whose ADL improved during the course of the treatment acquired the catheter-free or diaper-free status. Of 106 patients whose ADL did not improve, 85 patients became free of catheters or diapers. All of the remaining 19 patients who continued to be dependent upon catheter or diapers had been bed-ridden during the course of the treatment. Among 201 patients who were bed-ridden before the treatment, the success rate in the improvement of impaired ADL in 84 patients who underwent physical rehabilitation and received care given by family, was 83%. The ADL improved in 71% of the 70 who received rehabilitation and 53% of 17 bed-ridden patients who received familial care. By contrast, only 2 out of 30 patients who received neither of them were free from the bed-ridden condition. The remaining 28 patients continued to be bed-ridden, and the 19 cases who were not free of indwelling catheters or diapers were a part of this population of patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)