Impact of Urinary Incontinence on Physical Performance and Quality of Life (QOL) among a group of elderly in Cairo

Abstract

Background Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common disorder that particularly affects the elderly population worldwide. UI can be associated with poor quality of life (QOL) of this vulnerable population, as it leads to the limitation of their physical and social activities of daily life. Additionally, it has a psychological and economic burden on individuals, health care services and society. Objectives This study was performed to measure the frequency of UI and to determine its impact on the overall QOL of elderly, physical performance and activities of daily living. Participants and Methods A cross-sectional study was performed on attending the four Primary Health Care centres (PHCs) of El-Obour City. Data collection was done in randomly chosen days every week. All elders aged 60 or above, who attended the PHCs those days, were included until a sample size of 150 elderly was obtained. The International Consultation of Incontinence (ICIQ) was used to detect urinary incontinence, assess its type and severity while, SF-12 was used to assess quality of life (QOL) with its mental and physical components. All study participants underwent short physical performance battery balance, gait and chair tests Results The overall frequency of UI was 38% among the studied elderly. UI ranged from mild (12.3%) to moderate (57.9%) and severe (29.8%). Among incontinent participants, the frequency in men was 47.4% and in women was 52.6%. The frequency of stress, urge, mixed and other UI were 7%, 33.3%, 40.4% and 19.3% respectively. Incontinent elderly had significantly lower QOL as regards mental and physical indices than their continent counterparts. UI severity was inversely related to physical performance. Conclusion and recommendation UI has a high-frequency rate among the elderly population, and it has a significant impact on all QOL domains as well as on their physical performance. It is recommended to set up management plans and strategies in geriatric health care facilities to prevent UI and its impact on the physical and mental health of this vulnerable population.