Prevalence of Fecal and Double Fecal and Urinary Incontinence in Hospitalized Patients

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the period prevalence of fecal and double incontinence in patients with and without indwelling urinary catheters in Austrian hospitals and to identify factors associated with incontinence in this group. SUBJECTS AND SETTINGS: Austrian hospital patients from 227 Austrian hospitals with more than 50 beds were invited to participate in the study from 2009 to 2012 by means of leaflets and information sessions. The study sample comprised 9861 patients who agreed to participate in the study. METHODS: An internal coordinator was responsible for the measurement within each participating hospital. Researchers trained these coordinators and they, in turn, trained the teams of ward nurses to correctly conduct the survey and collect data on 1 day in April. The instrument used in this study was the Dutch National Prevalence Measurement of Care Problems (Landelijke Prevalentiemeting Zorgproblemen), which includes not only demographic data, questions regarding incontinence occurrence, duration, and nursing interventions, but also questions about nutritional status, level of care dependency, and pressure ulcers. RESULTS: The period prevalence of fecal incontinence was 6.5%, while the period prevalence of double incontinence among patients with an indwelling urinary catheter was 5.2% and 2.8% in patients without a urinary catheter, respectively. A variety of factors, including age, primary diagnosis, pressure ulcers excluding grade (stage) 1, low body mass index, malnutrition, and level of care dependency, were associated with fecal incontinence (P < .000). CONCLUSION: Study findings indicate that the prevalence of fecal and double continence is higher in patients with an indwelling urinary catheter as compared with patients with no urinary catheter. A longitudinal study might yield a more accurate picture regarding fecal/double incontinence.