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Response to urinary incontinence by older persons living in the community
Purpose:
To investigate the responses to urinary incontinence (UI) of older persons living in the community.
Design:
Detailed interviews were completed on a sample of 42 independent, community-dwelling persons who were at least 60 years of age. Nineteen participants reported UI, and their experiences are reported in detail.
Setting And Subjects:
Subjects were recruited from 3 sources: volunteers who acknowledged having UI, those with known UI who were invited by their doctors to participate, and those who selected "Loss of bladder control" in a 20-card sort of common ailments. All interviews were conducted in a private setting at a seniors center or at participants' church or home.
Instruments:
Twenty cards with a common ailment printed in large type and an interview schedule with questions relating to the ailment selected as having the most impact were used; demographic data were collected on a standardized form.
Methods:
Interviews were recorded on audiotape and lasted from 20 to 60 minutes. These recordings were analyzed for themes with use of Ethnography software.
Main Outcome Measures:
Demographic and other data from the interview schedule were tabulated. The communication style of the 19 subjects with UI was analyzed to determine how freely they spoke about problems with bladder control to family and friends and their sources of information for managing urinary leakage. Analysis was done both by the researcher and a faculty member; an interrater reliability of 1.00 was achieved.
Results:
There was little difference in the self-rating of health for those with or without UI. Subjects recruited by letters sent to doctors' patients ranked the impact of loss of bladder control higher than other subjects did. Of the 19 subjects with UI, 10 spoke freely to family and friends, but 9 seldom discussed the subject--and then only to a family member. Four of the 9 with a closed communication style reported no current source of information about UI or its management.
Conclusion:
Though UI had a major effect on the lives of these subjects, they were more willing to admit having "loss of bladder control" than "urinary incontinence." Communication style is related to prior sources of information about UI, but not its perceived impact on health. This relationship helps to determine the teaching methods that are most likely to influence elderly persons with UI who have either on open or closed communication style.