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Assessment, incidence and factors associated with urinary incontinence in older Aboriginal Australians
Author(s) -
Smith Kate,
Sutherland Ailsa,
Hyde Zoë,
Crawford Ruth,
Dwyer Anna,
Malay Roslyn,
Skeaf Linda,
Flicker Leon,
Atkinson David,
LoGiudice Dina
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
internal medicine journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 1444-0903
DOI - 10.1111/imj.14192
Subject(s) - medicine , urinary incontinence , incidence (geometry) , odds ratio , confidence interval , logistic regression , demography , gynecology , surgery , physics , sociology , optics
Background Little is known about urinary incontinence in older Aboriginal Australians. Aim To describe urinary incontinence assessment, prevalence, incidence and associated conditions in older Aboriginal Australians. Methods Wave 1 consisted of 363 Aboriginal participants aged ≥45 years from Western Australia; 289 participants participated in Wave 2, with 184 included at both time points. Urinary incontinence was assessed by self‐report, family report and the modified International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ). We investigated factors associated with incontinence with binary logistic regression. Sensitivity and specificity analyses of incontinence measures were undertaken using the ICIQ score ≥2 as the reference standard. Results Participant mean age was 61.2 ± 11.2 years. Prevalence of incontinence at Wave 2 ( n = 289) using self‐report was 24.6%; using ICIQ ≥2 was 22.5%; and family report 14.2%. Incidence after follow‐up of 6.7 years was 33 (23.6%), higher than estimates of 5–20% in other populations. Cross‐sectional associations with incontinence include female sex (odds ratio (OR) = 6.82; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.98–15.57), stroke (OR = 3.55; 95% CI 1.43–8.77), head injury (OR = 3.15; 95% CI 1.54–6.45) and depressive symptoms (OR = 1.07; 95% CI 1.01–1.14). Longitudinal associations were age (OR = 1.05; 95% CI 1.01–1.09) and female sex (OR = 2.37; 95% CI 0.99–5.67). Sensitivity (81.5%) and specificity (93.5%) of self‐report were high. Conclusion The prevalence and incidence of urinary incontinence in Aboriginal Australians is high with risk factors of older age and female sex. The modified ICIQ and self‐report appear to be appropriate incontinence screens. Further research to understand causes and treatments within this population is urgently required.