title: Urinary incontinence in a community sample of older adults: prevalence and impact on quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) in a community-dwelling sample and the impact of self-reported UI on well-being and activity in older men and women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were older adults aged  ≥65 years. Measures included the frequency of urgency incontinence, depression, positive and negative affect and social activity, independence in activities of daily living (IADL) and self-rated health. The data were collected by face to face interview (1994) and computer assisted telephone interviews (1996).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 796 participants, 28% experienced urgency incontinence and 21% reported stress incontinence occasionally or often, with higher rates among women. The threshold for the impact on depression, negative affect and IADL was with occasional occurrence of urinary urgency incontinence. For positive affect and self-rated health, the threshold was experiencing urinary urgency incontinence often. The presence of urinary stress incontinence was associated with depression, IADL dependence, self-rated health and positive affect. Overall, women with incontinence had higher negative affect scores, but men with stress incontinence had higher scores than those without.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The impact of incontinence highlights the need for more effective management of the condition. The threshold for the effects of urinary urgency incontinence on mental health and functionality is lower than for the effects on general health. There is a need to consider how older people judge the impact of UI in the design of targeted health promotion programmes.
authors.affiliation: School of Primary Health Care, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. jane.sims@monash.edu
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sims
authors.forename: Colette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Browning
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lundgren-Lindquist
authors.forename: Hal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kendig
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D053202:Urinary Incontinence, Urge / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology