Treatment and economic burden of urine incontinence in the rural elderly / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo explore the treatment and economic burden of urine incontinence (UI) in the rural elderly,and provide evidences for preventive intervention.MethodsA cluster sampling was carried out in 743 people (aged 60 years and over) from 5 villages dominated by Yanliu and Dafengshang health centers,Jixian County,Tianjin from 2007 to 2008.The information about general state of health,treatment and economic burden of disease were analyzed. Results The prevalence of UI was 33.4％ (248 cases) among the 743 elderly people.Only 12 patients (4.8％) with UI ever visited community health-care service centers or hospitals for diagnosis and treatment,among whom only 1 case visited hospital within 1 year,8 cases during 1 to 5 years,and 3 cases over 5 years.And the method of treatment was all drug therapy.Among 248 cases with UI,there were 227 cases (91.5％) without any treatment,9 cases (3.6％) buying medicines by themselves.The direct cost for treatment of UI was 80-12000 yuan RMB,including 2 cases below 100 yuan RMB,2 cases 100-1000 yuan RMB,7 cases 1001-5000 yuan RMB and 1 case over 10000 yuan RMB. Conclusions Prevalence of UI is high while hospital-visiting rate is very low,and the financial burden of disease is serious,thus intervention measures for UI should be taken for the elderly people in rural areas of Jixian County,Tianjin.