CHANGE IN INCONTINENCE STATUS IN THE NURSING HOME: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY USING ITEMS FROM THE MINIMUM DATA SET (URINARY).
Contributors: University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Published: 1996
Number of pages: 195
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.
Description: The purpose for this study was (a) to examine rates of change in urinary incontinence (UI) status (incidence, remission, increase and decrease in frequency) in a convenience sample of long term and newly admitted nursing home (NH) residents, (b) to explore factors predictive of change in UI status using items from the NH resident assessment instrument, the minimum data set (MDS), and (c) to determine rates of change for groups of NH residents with significant risk factors for change in UI status. A longitudinal panel design, using a mixed model was used. The setting was a 297 bed private non-profit skilled nursing facility in rural Wisconsin. The sample of new admissions included all residents admitted to the home in 1993. The sample of long term residents included residents residing at the facility on their admission anniversary date in 1993. Chi square and logistic regression were used in data analysis.

This study confirmed that UI is not an inevitable part of NH life, nor is the condition necessarily persistent and progressive. In the 1st 3 months rates of change for new admissions tended to be higher than those for long stay residents. At the end of 12 months 33% of those who remained in the NH had changed in status.

Ability to predict those who changed in status ranged from 28% (increasing frequency at the end of 12 months) to 64% (remission at the end of 3 months). Many of the risk factors found are responsive to nursing interventions, including mobility status and toileting skills, hearing and visual functioning, fluid intake, ability to communicate, and a variety of health problems. Individual residents exhibited between 1 and 17 of the significant risk factors, with 50% of them having 8 or more risk factors.

Rates of change in UI status as found in residents with common and important risk factors were listed. These rates may be useful in providing NHs with a place to start as they work with this problem in their own continuous quality improvement efforts.

Recommendations for future research including use of UI pads in the NH and the use of the MDS as a means of measuring UI status were discussed.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-04, Section: B, page: 2478.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE, 1996.

School code: 0263.