2 Continence
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C:/Postscript/02_HCNA3_D3.3d – 10/1/7 – 8:41 [This page: 69] 2 Continence Catherine W McGrother and Madeleine Donaldson* 1 Summary Statement of the problem Urinary incontinence is the main symptom of disordered storage of urine as distinct from disordered voiding. It represents several underlying conditions within a classification of diseases of the bladder which needs further development. The two main disorders featuring incontinence are overactive bladder, involving urge incontinence, and sphincter incompetence, involving stress incontinence. However, there are substantial overlaps with conditions such as dementia and stroke, particularly in elderly people, and for those with discrete neurological disorders and long-term disabilities including MS, and learning disability. The two most important recent issues in relation to service provision have been (i) the extent of need related to incontinence, in view of symptom prevalence reports ranging up to two-thirds of the population in women and (ii) the effectiveness of a nurse-led service crossing the primary/secondary care interface. These issues have been comprehensively addressed over the last few years by a research programme funded by the MRC with DoH support. This review includes insights from this research which is still ongoing. The role of the GP in assessment and management of the underlying condition is hampered by a lack of information, training and experience and the lack of an integrated specialist service. Further issues, where more information is needed to develop policy, concern the best management of people with overlapping conditions, e.g. stroke, MSand learning disability, who already receive specialist input of various kinds. One of the longer-term issues concerns the merits of extending an integrated incontinence services to include all disorders of the bladder and its outlet, in view of the extensive overlap between storage and voiding symptoms and the uncertainty about the distinctions between underlying conditions and about the management of prostatic enlargement. * The following people also contributed to this chapter: RP Assassa, Consultant Urogynaecologist, Mid-Yorkshire Hospital NHSTrust and Honorary SeniorLecturer, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester; TA Hayward, Research Assistant, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester; G Matharu, Specialist Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Leicester General Hospital; DA Turner, Research Associate in Health Economics, Trent Institute for Health Services Research, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester; A Wagg, Consultant in Geriatrics, Care of the Elderly Department, University College Hospital, London; J Warsame, Specialist Registrar in Public Health Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester; JM Watson, Research Associate, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester; KSWilliams, SeniorNursing Research Fellow, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester. C:/Postscript/02_HCNA3_D3.3d – 10/1/7 – 8:41 [This page: 70] 70 Continence Sub-categories Storage disorder signifies the totality of clinically recognised abnormal storage symptoms including incontinence, urgency, frequency and nocturia. Incontinence serves as the main epidemiological indicator and has two commonly recognised levels of severity – any and moderate/monthly. At primary care level the syndrome of overactive bladder is commonly represented by the symptoms of urgency, including urge incontinence, often occurring in association with frequency and nocturia. Similarly, sphincter incompe- tence is commonly represented by the symptom of stress incontinence. The ICD-10 codes (see Table 2) encompass all the conditions associated with incontinence but the sub- categories lack coherence. The International Continence Society reflects current thinking in re-organising the main sub-categories as detrusor overactivity (DO) with idiopathic and neurogenic components, and urodynamic stress incontinence (USI). Less common categories involving incontinence in men include chronic retention of urine with overflow, mostly due to prostatic enlargement and post-micturition dribble due to abnormal relaxation of the external sphincter. Health care need is defined in terms of objectively defined abnormal storage symptoms and impact on life. Felt need is defined more subjectively in terms of apparent motivation to obtain help indicated by either using services or wanting help. Health care requirement represents felt need within the context of the defined health care need. Prevalence and incidence The results of a systematic review of UK studies suggest that bladder malfunction is very common, often distressing for the individual and represents a major public health problem in the UK that may be increasing over time. Incontinence and other storage symptoms should be conceptualised as disorder of the bladder on a par with and indeed related to other organ systems of the body and deserve similar consideration for research and service development. Across a range of UK studies, the prevalence of any incontinence averages out at around 40% for women and 10% for men. Incontinence with impact on life is estimated around 30% for women. For those aged 40 or more, storage disorder as a whole affects around 39% of women and 29% of men. This represents considerably more men than are affected by incontinence alone (Table 1). These results are consistent with findings from around the world and the current MRC programme of research. There were no published UK studies available that estimated the full extent of felt need in relation to storage disorder. We estimate this at 25% in women and 18% in men within the previous year, indicating the level of health care requirement. These levels cannot be ascribed to measurement error or uncertainty over thresholds. They appear high in relation to other individual conditions partly because incontinence/storage disorder represents several common conditions affecting the bladder. There is an overall increase in prevalence of symptoms with age in both women and men but the latter start from a lower base after childhood, increasing to similar levels in old age. Women experience a peak of prevalence around menopause, due to stress incontinence. The rise seen in elderly people is related to urge incontinence. These two types of incontinence place very different demands on services, especially with regard to surgery. Overall, the prevalence of need increases with age and the major problem is apparent in old age, equally among men and women. C:/Postscript/02_HCNA3_D3.3d – 10/1/7 – 8:41 [This page: 71] Continence 71 Table 1: Urinary incontinence and storage disorder: prevalence, impact and use of services from UK studies – 1960–2001. Average prevalence % (range in studies)a Women Men Storage disorderd 39 (–) 29 (–) Incontinence (minor)d 40 (16–69) 10 (8–25) Incontinence (monthly) 12 (8–23) 5 (3–9) Nocturia (2þ) 15 (14–26) 15 (14–20) Frequency (hourly) 9 (–) 5 (–) Urgency (difficulty) 9 (6–9) 5 (3–5) Impact – anyd 30 (17–44) 12b (11–12) – more than a little 8 (8–30) 4 (3–6) Consultation 6 (2–11) 3 (1–7) Want help/uptake on offerc 5 (4–9) 4 (3–4) a Estimated from graphs. b Elderly ages only. c Indicator of unmet need. d Indicator of health care need. The prevalence of incontinence is 2–3 times higher in residential care and hospitals and among people with severe disabilities of various kinds than in the general population. Incontinence probably operates as a selection factor but it could deteriorate as a result of institutional care. The incidence of incontinence suggests three distinct peaks in women – early reproductive age, menopause and old age with rates ranging between 6–22% for women and half this for men. The natural history suggests a marked tendency to fluctuation with elements of both remission and progression. There are clear associations with pregnancy/parity, obesity and cognitive impairment, and fairly consistent relationships with stroke and depression. Services available and their costs Division of care between professionals is complex, with varied models of service around the country. Patients may present to GPs or go directly (or indirectly) to continence nurses in the community. They may be treated extensively within primary care with behavioural and medical therapies or be referred at an early stage to specialists, including neurologists, geriatricians, urologists and gynaecologists. In relation to health service pathways for incontinence, most younger women are referred to gynaecologists whereas most older men and women are referred to physicians for the elderly; whilst for voiding problems most men are referred to urologists. Continence nurses of various kinds play a considerable role in managing the problem but the nature and extent of provision is very variable across the country. Community nurses are often the first port of call for patients with incontinence. They may make the initial in-depth assessment and are often involved in providing some degree of behavioural therapy for the common disorders and long-term aids for intractable conditions. C:/Postscript/02_HCNA3_D3.3d – 10/1/7 – 8:41 [This page: 72] 72 Continence Primary care The key issues in the provision of appropriate services to date have been the level of interest in continence on the part of the health care provider, the fragmented approach to provision of specialised services in secondary