Continence prevalence and management in an acute hospital

<b>Learning Objective 1:</b> describe the prevalence of incontinence within an Australian acute care hospital<br /><br /><b>Learning Objective 2:</b> describe the current management practices for incontinence with regard to patients in an acute care hospital<br />Introduction: In 1998 the World Health Organisation recognised the international problem of incontinence. However, incontinence remains a major problem that affects more than 3.8 million Australians. Currently, there are no Australian guidelines governing the management of continence within the acute healthcare setting. Cabrini Health sought to identify the prevalence of incontinence in the acute inpatient setting and pilot a Continence Management Program to improve patient safety and patient outcomes.<br /><b><br />Aim: </b>The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and current management practices for incontinence with regard to Cabrini Health inpatients.<br /><br /><b>Method: </b>The sample comprised 392 inpatients across three campuses of Cabrini Health (mean age= 68.3 years). Continence prevalence was assessed using a validated Continence Point Prevalence Tool.<br /><br /><b>Results:</b> Urinary incontinence prevalence was 14%. The resulting overall faecal incontinence prevalence was 7.4%. There were 113 (52.3%) patients who were not incontinent and were using a continence product/device. Fifteen (25.9%) patients were incontinent and were not using any form of continence product/device. There were 43 (74.1%) patients who were incontinent and were using a continence product/device. For the large majority of patients, the admission notes contained documentation of their bladder and bowel function. Specifically, 46 (11.8%) patients had no form of admission documentation relating to bowel function and 45 (11.5%) patients had no form of admission documentation regarding to bladder function.<br /><b><br />Conclusions: </b>This study provided baseline continence prevalence for Cabrini Health. There is a need for evidence-based guidelines to support the management of incontinent patients. These interventions will assist staff to educate patients on appropriate choice of continence products and enable patients to maintain or regain continence. Thereby, leading to improved outcomes for patients and improved risk management. <br />