Urinary incontinence in a Finnish population aged 70 and over -: Prevalence of types, associated factors and self-reported treatments

Objective - To describe the prevalence, associated factors and self-reported treatments of different types of incontinence in a random older population. Design - A population-based cross-sectional survey. Setting - Third wave for the Tampere Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TamELSA) in 1999. Subjects - 171 men and 227 women aged 70 and over. Main outcome measures - Urge and mixed incontinence combined and associated health and social indicators. Results - The prevalence of stress, urge and mixed incontinence was 2%, 17% and 6%, respectively, in men and 23%, 6% and 30%, respectively, in women. In the logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, urge and mixed incontinence in women were associated with living in an institution (OR [odds ratio] 13.55), comorbidity (OR 1.94), ADL (activities of daily living) disability (OR 3.55), depressive mood (OR 2.49) and fecal incontinence (OR 7.84), while in men an association was found between urge and mixed incontinence and ADL disability (OR 2.59) and depressive mood (OR 2.69). All the men living in an institution were incontinent of urine. Of the incontinent women, 46% used diapers, but collecting devices were rare in men. Conclusion - The results emphasise the significance and multifactorial nature of the urge component in geriatric incontinence, which should be considered in both geriatric and general practice.