Background: urinary incontinence (UI) is a common symptom among older people, with a higher prevalence among frail older persons living in nursing homes. Despite consequences such as reduced health and quality of life, many older people do not seek help for their symptoms, resulting in missed opportunity for treatment.
Objective: the aim of this study was to investigate the evidence and the effect of conservative treatment of UI and the quality of life among older and frail older persons.
Methods: a systematic review of randomised controlled studies and prospective, non-randomised studies was conducted, evaluating interventions of conservative treatment of UI in an older population (65 years or older). A total of 23 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and 9 were of high or moderate quality. Fourteen studies were of low quality and were therefore excluded from the analysis.
Results: documented and effective conservative treatments are available even for older persons with UI. Pelvic muscle exercise, physical training in combination with ADL, prompted voiding and attention training, and help to toilet are important treatments. In some studies, however, the evidence of effectiveness is limited.
Conclusions: this systematic review concludes that there are conservative treatments for UI for older and frail older persons that reduce leakage and increase quality of life. There is however a need for further high-quality studies.
Keywords: bladder training; conservative treatment; older and frail older; older people; pelvic floor exercise; prompted voiding; systematic review; toilet assistance; urinary incontinence.
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