Urinary incontinence and its associated factors in nursing home residents: a multi-centre cross-sectional study in Central Catalonia

Background Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common geriatric syndrome with high health and socio-economic impacts in nursing home (NH) residents. Objectives To verify the prevalence and types of UI and its associated factors in older people living in NHs in Central Catalonia (Spain). We also determined the proportion of residents who were receiving behavioural strategies to prevent/manage UI. Design and setting Cross-sectional study in 5 NHs conducted from January to March 2020. Methods We included consenting residents aged 65 + permanently living in the NHs. Residents who were hospitalized, in a coma or palliative care were excluded. UI was assessed using Section H of the Minimum Data Set. Sociodemographic and health-related variables were examined. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate (logistic regression) analyses were performed. Results We included 132 subjects (82.6% women), mean age of 85.2 (SD = 7.4) years. The prevalence of UI was 76.5% (95% CI: 68.60-82.93). The most common type was functional UI (45.5%), followed by urgency UI (11.4%). Most sedentary behaviour variables were significant in the bivariate analyses, but none remained in the final model. Moderate-severe cognitive impairment (OR = 4.44, p = .003), anticholinergic activity (OR = 3.50, p = .004) and risk of sarcopenia using SARC-F (OR = 2.75, p = .041) were significantly associated with UI. Only 46.2% of residents received any behavioural strategy to manage UI. Conclusions The prevalence of UI was high in this sample of NH residents compared to the literature, yet less than half received prompted voiding as a strategy to prevent/reduce UI. UI was associated with cognitive impairment, anticholinergic activity, and risk of sarcopenia.