Résumé
A questionnaire survey was conducted to find out the fact about urinary incontinence in the elderly populace of a rural area in Tokushima prefecture. The survey was part of the study of the health status and urination of the aged, commissioned by the National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultral Cooperatives (Zenkyoren).<BR>It was found that 23.6% of the old people, male and female combined, living in their own home have the incontinence problem. The ratio for hospitalized patients was a little lower than this, but the involuntary voiding of urine into clothing and bedclothes was a problem in 27.0% of those staying in nursing homes.<BR>The number of incontinent persons was slightly larger in women than men. It showed a tendency to increase with advancing age.<BR>As for the type of incontinence, urgency and overflow types were common in men, while urgency and abdominal pressure types are predominant in women.<BR>The cause of urinary incontinence was unidentified in most of the cases. Next to the unknown cause came a sequela to cerebral apoplexy. A relatively larger number of incontinence cases among nursing home inmates could be ascribed to senile dementia.<BR>Even among those old people who live in their own home without depending much on their children, more than 20% said they have involuntarily leaked urine. About 30-50% of them confided they wet their pants more than once a day. To them, incontinence is a perennial problem, undermining the old people's quality of life. They wish to go out but cannot help staying at home only to swear at the condition they are in.<BR>In nursing homes, a great deal of time and energy has to be spent for looking after incontinent aged people. The burden of care which falls on nurses and aids is beyond measure. These findings suggest that we should face up to the actual state of affairs connected with incontient old people and care for those people and hasten to frame measures to cope with the situation.