Factors inherent to the onset of urinary incontinence in the hospitalized elderly patients analyzed in the light of the Donabedian's triad.

Objective: To apprehend the factors related to the onset and/or worsening of urinary incontinence in the hospitalized elderly patient, considering the Donabedian's triad.

Method: This is a qualitative, descriptive study, conducted with nurses and nursing technicians from a public university hospital. Data were collected using the focus group technique; content analysis was used for treatment and analysis, with subsequent coding of the registration units in the software WebQDA, relating the corpus obtained with the Donabedian's pillars.

Results: The most reported factors related to the onset and/or worsening of urinary incontinence in hospitalized elderly patients were linked to the pillar structure, with emphasis on the attribute human resources, followed by the attributes material resources and physical structure; the second Donabedian's pillar with the greatest association with the reports was process and, finally, the pillar outcome.

Conclusion: The identification of factors related to the outcome investigated in the hospital environment provided the participants with reflection and awareness about the problem, therefore allowing the proposition of measures and interventions to minimize it and ensure safe and quality care to the hospitalized elderly patient.