Authors (including presenting author) :
Tse WY(1), Yeung CK(1), Chung KW(1), Leung SY(1), Hui EMT(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Fanling Family Medicine Centre, Department of Family Medicine, New Terroritories East Cluster
Introduction :
Urinary incontinence is defined by the International Continence Society (ICS) as the involuntary leakage of urine. It is a common medical condition that affects up to 55% of female and 34% of the elderly male population according to studies conducted in the United States . Urinary incontinence is at least twice as common in women than in men. As a result, a large number of studies have been focused on female urinary incontinence while studies addressing the problem of male urinary incontinence and its impact on their quality of life are scarce. The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of urinary incontinence, the associated risk factors and its effect on the quality of life of elderly male patients in the primary care setting using the ICIQ-UI SF and King’s health questionnaire. Such data would help the healthcare professionals to gauge the severity of this problem in the local community and allow for healthcare recommendations, professional training, and public education programs to be tailored accordingly.
Objectives :
To study the prevalence of urinary incontinence in Chinese elderly male in primary care and its effect on their quality of life.
Methodology :
This was a cross-sectional pilot study. Subjects were recruited from a Fanling Family Medicine Centre in Hong Kong in March 2018. Inclusion criteria were Chinese male at 65 years old or above. Exclusion criteria includes non-Chinese men, and those who are unable to consent to study. The ICIQ-UI SF (International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form) was developed by the International Continence Society, in an effort to produce internationally applicable questionnaire for clinical use and research. It consists of four questions assessing the frequency, amount, types of urinary incontinence and impact on the quality of life in the past 4 weeks. The King’s health Questionnaire is a validated quality of life questionnaire. valid for the assessment of quality of life in male urinary incontinence. The questionnaire consists of 21 questions, representing assessment of different domains including general health perception, incontinence impact, role limitations, physical limitations, social limitations, personal relationships, emotions, sleep and energy, and severity measures.
Result & Outcome :
The prevalence of urinary incontinence in our study subjects is 24.3%. The mean score of ICIQ-UI SF was 6.57 2.762 (SD). The prevalence increases as patients ages. Yet the severity among incontinent men does not differ among various age groups with F (5, 95) =0.435, p=0.823, r=0.0675. Benign prostatic hyperplasia is significantly associated with urinary incontinence. The quality of life measured by Kings Health Questionnaire is worse when the severity of urinary incontinence increases, with a large effect on incontinence impact (rs=0.707, p>0.01), severity measures (rs=0.596, p<0.01); a medium effect on physical limitations (rs=0.495, p<0.01), role limitations (rs=0.395, p=<0.01), and emotions (rs=0.416, p<0.01); and a small effect on social limitations (rs=0.284, p=0.004), personal relationships (rs=0.255, p=0.032) and sleep and energy (rs=0.258, p=0.009). The impact on general health perceptions is statistically insignificant (p=0.919)