The Quality of Life of Older Adults with Urinary Incontinence: Determining Generic and Condition-Specific Predictors

Urinary incontinence (UI) is an unpleasant problem for many adults. This study determined the importance of demographic, health and incontinence variables for the generic and incontinence-specific quality of life (QoL) of older adults (age ≥ 60 years). Telephone surveys of adults reporting at least weekly episodes of UI (n = 435) were conducted as part of a randomized, controlled trial. Logistic regression analyses showed that the predictors of generic and incontinence-specific QoL differed. Life satisfaction, a generic outcome, was predicted by education, the number of days in bed due to health problems, the number of days not feeling well and the amount of urine lost. Generic health was related to education, the number of days sick in the previous 30 days and the number of days health issues restricted activities. The incontinence-specific QoL outcomes were predicted by age, mobility difficulties, the amount of urine lost, the frequency of UI, and the number of daytime and night-time voids. The specific QoL measures provide a different profile of those most affected in this sample than that obtained by the generic measures. The most affected are younger persons with severe urine loss. Older persons may have other conditions impinging on QoL and may have adapted behaviourally and psychologically to urine loss.