An evaluation of the acceptability of incontinence aids used by 85-year-old men and women.

An evaluation of the acceptability of incontinence aids was performed in incontinent 85-year-old men and women (n = 355) resident in the city of Göteborg. Incontinence aids were used more often (P < 0.001) by incontinent women (67.9%) than men (42.9%) living in the community, and were used by 86.4% of the incontinent men and 91.5% of the incontinent women living in an institution. Pads were the commonest form of incontinence aid used, irrespective of whether the men (26.6%) and women (67.9%) lived in the community or in an institution (men, 59.1% and women, 86.2%). Urinary leakage and odour as a result of urinary incontinence limited daily life for many men (22.4% and 30.6%, respectively) and women (14.7% and 27.4%, respectively), and meant that 24% of the men and 18% of the women were dependent on another person. At the primary assessment 38.8% of the men and 26.8% of the women living at home were dissatisfied with their present form of incontinence aid. An individual assessment of the patients' requirements regarding incontinence aids was then performed by a urotherapist. Following intervention there was an increase in the number of men (61.2%, P < 0.01) and women (75.3%, P < 0.05) using incontinence aids. There was also an increase (P < 0.01) in the acceptability of the incontinence aids used as judged by the men (dissatisfied: before, 38.8%; after, 14.3%) and women (dissatisfied: before, 26.8%; after, 6.8%) living at home who were already using some form of incontinence aid at the primary assessment.