title: Development of a continence assessment pathway in acute care.
abstract: Incontinence is defined as any loss of urine or faeces that is involuntary (Abrahams et al, 2002). It can affect anyone at any age. The prevalence of incontinence increases with age, and in women it is often associated with childbearing and the menopause. Incontinence can have devastating effects on an individual's life (Laycock et al, 2001), with both emotional and financial costs (Paddison, 2002). In the UK, conservative estimates suggest that 424 million pounds per year is spent on urinary incontinence alone (Continence Foundation, 2000).
authors.affiliation: Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clayman
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Forth
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000465:Algorithms; D019985:Benchmarking / Q000458:organization & administration; D017281:Cost of Illness; D019091:Critical Pathways / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003663:Decision Trees; D004282:Documentation; D005242:Fecal Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing*; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009731:Nursing Audit; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009737:Nursing Records; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012307:Risk Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing*