TREATMENT SEEKING FOR URINARY-INCONTINENCE IN OLDER ADULTS

Objective: To examine treatment seeking for urinary incontinence among older adults and to identify characteristics associated with treatmen t-seeking behavior. Design: Survey. Setting: Five rural counties in no rthwestern Pennsylvania. Participants: 1104 community-dwelling ambulat ory older adults aged 65 to 79 years with self-reported urinary incont inence. Participants were a subgroup of a large sample (n = 3884) who volunteered for a study of health promotion services. Those who report ed urinary incontinence within the past year, during an in-person heal th risk appraisal, were included in this analysis. Measurements: Repor ting incontinence to the participant's physician was the main dependen t measure. Main Results: 37.6% of the participants had told their phys ician about loss of urine. Reporting incontinence to a physician was s trongly associated with severity of incontinence as indicated by eight measures (P < 0.001). Treatment seeking was also related to type of i ncontinence (P < 0.001), physical disability (P < 0.01), and the patte rn of health care utilization (P < 0.01). In multiple logistic regress ion analyses, younger age, physical disability, and frequency of physi cal and rectal examinations had significant predictive value independe nt of severity. Not associated with treatment seeking were gender, mar ital status, income, employment status, educational level, and distanc e from health care provider. Conclusions: The majority of older adults with urinary incontinence do not report the condition to their doctor . Severity of incontinence, physical disability, and a pattern of regu lar health care utilization appear to be the strongest predictors of t reatment-seeking behavior.