Carefully read the assignment guidelines and rubric and complete each section of the worksheet below.
1. Definition
a. Disease or condition:
... [Show More] Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common condition in elderly patients and is defined as involuntary
leakage of urine. UI may have serious implications for patients and their families. UI has been
shown to contribute to additional issues like falls, pressure injuries, depression, and an elevated
risk of hospitalization in the patient.
There are different types of UI: stress UI, urgency UI, overflow UI, functional UI, and mixed UI.
Urgency UI is the most common UI in older adults (Davis et al., 2020).
UI can cause limitations in every day’s activities of the person and thus can significantly lower a
person’s quality of life.
There is a lack of awareness on the availability of treatments for UI.
b. Pathophysiology:
Older people may experience UI because of genitourinary system changes brought on by aging,
including immune system changes, prostate enlargement, increased nocturia, decreased estrogen
levels, and decreased bladder capacity (Davis et al., 2020).
There are areas of the central nervous system that are responsible for urinary urgency. Increased
white matter hyperintensities with age. These aging-related alterations have been linked to UI and
its severity as well as impairments of mobility and cognition (Shaw & Wagg, 2020).
With age, the bladder capacity and contractility decrease thus making it hard to put off voiding
when the need happens.
0320 RB/KK
The increased post-void residual urine volume with age causes the detrusor muscles to contract
more.
Elderly postmenopausal women exhibit UI due to a loss of volume and tone of the pelvic muscle.
As women age, the ligaments and connective tissues that support the pelvic organs eventually
deteriorate. The risk of pelvic organ prolapses, including cystocele, rectocele, and uterine prolapse,
is increased by a weak pelvic floor.
Prostatic enlargement in elderly men is correlated to UI. Prostatic enlargement causes bladder
outlet obstruction with voiding and storage symptoms.
c. Incidence and prevalence:
The prevalence of UI in women is three times more than in men.
UI is more common in patients with cognitive and physical disabilities.
Elderly patients have higher prevalence of UI due to genitourinary system changes brought on by
aging.
70.3% of long-term care residents and 43.8% of noninstitutionalized Americans 65 and older
reported having UI (Davis et al., 2020).
At least one out of every four people could experience UI at some point in their lifetime (Pizzol et
al., 2020).
Due to feelings of shame and the perception that UI is a normal part of getting older, patients
rarely report experiencing UI.
2. Assessment
a. Symptoms:
Presenting signs and symptoms differ depending on the type of urgency that the patient is
experiencing. [Show Less]