Association of urinary incontinence with impaired functional status among older people living in a long-term care setting.

AIM: To examine the association between functional status and urinary incontinence. METHODS: A total of 27 participants with urinary incontinence and 50 participants without urinary incontinence were analyzed at a long-term care setting in Pingtung County, Taiwan, in 2011. The recruitment criteria were age older than 65 years, ability to communicate with the researcher, agreement to participate in the present study and potential ability to complete at least one measurement of functional status. Urinary incontinence was defined as urine leakage at least once a week during the past 4 weeks, whereas functional status was assessed by the body composition (body mass index and waist circumference), upper body strength (grasp test), lower body strength (30-s and 5-times chair stand test), upper body flexibility (back scratch test), lower body flexibility (chair sit-and-reach test) and agility/dynamic balance (8-ft up-and-go test). RESULTS: In univariate analyses, performances on the tests of 5-time chair stand, 30-s chair stand, 8-ft up-and-go, chair sit-and-reach, and grasp were significantly different between the participants with and without urinary incontinence (all P < 0.05). However, after multiple logistical regression adjusting sex, age and chronic illnesses, just two tests, 8-ft up-and-go and chair sit-and-reach, were independent predictors of urinary incontinence. CONCLUSION: Poor performance on the tests of 8-ft up-and-go and chair sit-and-reach were the predominated risk factors of urinary incontinence. Further studies regarding how to improve the functional status, especially focusing on the function of the lower body, might be required in order to enhance continence care.

Reliability and Validity of the King's Health Questionnaire for Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the reliability and validity of the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ), and understand the impacts of lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL). METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used and a convenience of 393 men participated in the study. The reliability was measured by testing the Cronbach's α coefficients. Factor analysis was used to explore the underlying factor structure of the KHQ. The discriminant validity was assessed using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests with post hoc analysis (Games-Howell method) by comparing the differences scores in KHQ domains between men with three LUTS severity groups (mild, moderate, and severe). RESULTS: Men with severe, moderate, mild LUTS accounted for 7.9, 25.4, and 66.7%, respectively. Internal consistency of KHQ was excellent with Cronbach's α coefficients of 0.750-0.943. Factor analysis showed three underlying components to explain constructive validity. The KHQ subscores in both the severe and moderate LUTS groups were significantly higher than those in mild LUTS group (all P < 0.05), implying that the discriminant validity was adequate. Excepting for two single-item questions, the first three greater disparities in KHQ domains between the severe and mild LUTS groups were "Emotion", "Sleeping/Energy", and "Physical limitation", while the least disparities was found in "Personal relationships" domain. CONCLUSION: LUTS could produce a substantial impact on different domains of HR-QoL. The traditional Chinese KHQ has suitable reliability and validity for men with general LUTS, and might be a useful tool for HR-QoL measure in future.

Prevalence and risk factors for nocturia in middle-aged and elderly people from public health centers in Taiwan

To assess the occurrence and the associated risk factors for nocturia among middle-aged and elderly people from public health centers in southern Taiwan.

Data were part of our previous cross-sectional study which used a self-administered questionnaire for the assessment of lower urinary tract symptoms. A total of 1011 responders who were at least 40 years of age were enrolled from any of four local public health centers for any reason in Pingtung County, Taiwan. Nocturia, as a dependent variable, was defined as two or more episodes per night. Covariables included age, gender, and chronic illnesses (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke). Multivariate logistic regression was applied to determine the risk factors associated with nocturia. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

About 38.1% (385/1011) of the participants reported having nocturia ≥ 2 episodes/night, and the occurrence of nocturia increased with advanced age. More than half (51.2%, 197/385) participants with nocturia perceived at least “a bit of a problem” on the sleep quality. The multivariate logistical regression showed that the independent risk factors for nocturia were age (OR:1.06, CI:1.05-1.08), hypertension (OR:1.58, CI:1.16-2.16) and diabetes (OR:1.59, CI:1.03-2.45) and obesity (OR:1.47, CI:1.02-2.10), while a borderline effect on nocturia was produced by cardiovascular disease (OR:1.66, CI: 0.98-2.79) and stroke (OR:2.75, CI:0.88-8.64).

Several chronic illnesses coexisted with nocturia. Health care providers need to be aware of an increased risk of nocturia among people with certain chronic illnesses, and provide appropriate health ...

Higher glycosylated hemoglobin levels increase the risk of overactive bladder syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVES: To assess overactive bladder and its component symptoms among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to explore whether higher glycosylated hemoglobin and other factors increase the risk of overactive bladder symptoms. METHODS: A total of 279 diabetes mellitus patients from our outpatient clinic, and 578 age- and sex-matched subjects without diabetes mellitus from public health centers were enrolled from May to September of 2010. The collected data included overactive bladder and its component symptoms measured by using the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score, and collecting demographic and clinical data. Overactive bladder was defined as total Overactive Bladder Symptom Score ≥3 and urgency score ≥2 (once a week or more). RESULTS: Diabetes mellitus patients had a significantly higher proportion of overactive bladder symptoms/urgency compared with the controls (28.0% vs 16.3%, odds ratio 2.03, 95% confidence interval 1.44-2.86), as well as nocturia (48.0% vs 39.1%, odds ratio 1.44, 95% confidence interval 1.08-1.93). There were no significant effects of diabetes mellitus on urge urinary incontinence (14.0% vs 10.9%, odds ratio 1.32, 95% confidence interval 0.86-2.04) and daytime frequency (26.9% vs 32.4%, odds ratio 0.77, 95% confidence interval 0.56-1.05). After adjusting for all variables, high glycosylated hemoglobin levels were significantly associated with overactive bladder/urgency (odds ratio 1.24, 95% confidence interval 1.06-1.45), urge urinary incontinence (odds ratio 1.20, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.45) and nocturia (odds ratio 1.17, 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.35). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with type 2 mellitus present more overactive bladder symptoms/urgency and nocturia than controls. Among diabetic patients, higher glycosylated hemoglobin level represents an independent predictor of overactive bladder /urgency, urge urinary incontinence and nocturia.

Prevalence and risk factors for nocturia in middle-aged and elderly people from public health centers in Taiwan.

PURPOSE: To assess the occurrence and the associated risk factors for nocturia among middle-aged and elderly people from public health centers in southern Taiwan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were part of our previous cross-sectional study which used a self-administered questionnaire for the assessment of lower urinary tract symptoms. A total of 1011 responders who were at least 40 years of age were enrolled from any of four local public health centers for any reason in Pingtung County, Taiwan. Nocturia, as a dependent variable, was defined as two or more episodes per night. Covariables included age, gender, and chronic illnesses (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke). Multivariate logistic regression was applied to determine the risk factors associated with nocturia. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: About 38.1 % (385/1011) of the participants reported having nocturia ≥ 2 episodes/night, and the occurrence of nocturia increased with advanced age. More than half (51.2 %, 197/385) participants with nocturia perceived at least ″a bit of a problem″ on the sleep quality. The multivariate logistical regression showed that the independent risk factors for nocturia were age (OR:1.06, CI:1.05-1.08), hypertension (OR:1.58, CI:1.16-2.16) and diabetes (OR:1.59, CI:1.03-2.45) and obesity (OR:1.47, CI:1.02-2.10), while a borderline effect on nocturia was produced by cardiovascular disease (OR:1.66, CI: 0.98-2.79) and stroke (OR:2.75, CI:0.88-8.64). CONCLUSIONS: Several chronic illnesses coexisted with nocturia. Health care providers need to be aware of an increased risk of nocturia among people with certain chronic illnesses, and provide appropriate health care.

Stressors, social support, depressive symptoms and general health status of Taiwanese caregivers of persons with stroke or Alzheimer's disease.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationships among stressors, social support, depressive symptoms and the general health status of Taiwanese caregivers of individuals with stroke or Alzheimer's disease. BACKGROUND: Caring for a disabled or cognitively impaired person can be extremely stressful and often has adverse effects on caregivers' health. While research on caregiving in Taiwan has examined caregivers' characteristics, caregivers' need and caregivers' burden in caring for older people in general, little is known about Taiwanese caregivers of individuals with stroke or Alzheimer's disease. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, descriptive correlation design. METHODS: Data were obtained from a convenience sample of 103 Taiwanese informal caregivers in the South of Taiwan and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, multiple and hierarchical regressions and t-tests. RESULTS: Caregivers who had lower household incomes and were taking care of individuals with more behaviour problems had more depressive symptoms. In addition, caregivers who were older and were taking care of individuals with more behaviour problems had worse general health. Caregivers who had more emotional support had less depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease had more depressive symptoms and worse general health than caregivers of persons with stroke. Only emotional support moderated the relationship between one of the stressors (household income) and depressive symptoms. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings of this study may be helpful for nurses and other health care professionals in designing effective interventions to minimise the negative impacts of stressors on the psychological and general health of caregivers in Taiwan.