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Biomedical subjects

B J McDowell

Publications and source records attributed to B J McDowell.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Characteristics of urinary incontinence in homebound older adults.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of urinary incontinence and related factors in incontinent homebound older adults. DESIGN: A descriptive study of 90 cognitively intact incontinent homebound older persons referred to a clinical trial to examine the effectiveness of behavioral therapies in the treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) in homebound patients. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Incontinent patients more than 60 years of age who met the Health Care Financing Administration's definition of homebound were referred to a clinical trial by home care nurses from a Medicare-approved home care agency in a large metropolitan country in Pennsylvania. MEASURES: Structured continence and medical history, basic and instrumental activities of daily living, Folstein MMSE, Geriatric Depression Scale, mobility-toileting skills, bladder diaries, and physical examination. RESULTS: Four hundred eighty-four persons were referred to the clinical trial, and 90 cognitively intact persons were found eligible to participate in this study (80 women and 10 men). Subjects had a mean age of 75.8 years, reported a mean of 8.4 medical problems, and most, 80%, had functional limitations in ambulation. Subjects recorded a mean of 3.8 urinary accidents/day-1.4 large and 2.4 small accidents/ day-in baseline bladder diaries. The majority, 73.3%, had more than 10 accidents per week, and most patients reported mixed urge, stress (57.1%), or pure urge (37.7%) UI. Half (54.4%) reported that UI further restricted their activities, and 52.2% reported that this problem was extremely disturbing. However, 90.5% believed that UI could be treated. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary incontinence tends to be severe among cognitively intact homebound older adults in both frequency and volume of accidents. Although subjects were homebound with many health and functional disabilities, they perceived UI as a very disturbing problem that further restricted their activities. Participants in this study were optimistic about the potential benefits of treatment.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1995

Self-care behaviors of older women with urinary incontinence.

1. Despite the availability of effective treatments for urinary incontinence, many women self-manage incontinence and never have it evaluated or treated. 2. The vast majority of women in this study used one or more self-care behaviors to manage their incontinence; the most frequently used behaviors were locating or staying near bathrooms when out, voiding more frequently, and wearing some type of protective garment. 3. Most women reported that incontinence was not at all or only a little difficult to manage and were satisfied with the self-care behaviors they used to manage this problem despite the fact that most of these behaviors had little or no potential to reduce or eliminate their incontinence.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Identification and intervention for urinary incontinence by community physicians and geriatric assessment teams.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the difference in the recognition and intervention/referral rates for urinary incontinence (UI) by out-patient Geriatric Assessment Units (GAUs) and private physicians in community-based practices (CMDs). DESIGN: A multi-site, randomized, controlled study where block randomization was utilized to assign subjects 65 years of age and older to either a GAU or a CMD for assessment. SETTING: One academic and three hospital-based GAUs and CMDs in private practice in a large metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred sixty-four community-dwelling frail men (14%) and women (86%) with a mean age of 75 years. MEASUREMENTS: The independent variable was the type of out patient care, either CMD or GAU, to which the subjects were randomized. The dependent variables were recognition of UI by the health care providers and intervention or referral for the problem of UI once it was identified. Instruments included a structured in-home interview performed before randomization designed to uncover health problems such as urinary incontinence, as well as a medical record review form used post-assessment to ascertain recognition rates and intervention for UI by CMDS and GAUs. Both of the instruments were developed and piloted by the investigators in a preliminary study. MAIN RESULTS: Of the 364 subjects, 151 (41.5%) reported UI during the in-home interviews. Recognition rates for UI were significantly better for GAUs (48 of 81, 59.3%) than CMDs (11 of 70, 15.7%) (P < 0.001). This was true for mild (< 3 times/week) 44.2% vs 2.1% (P < 0.000005) as well as severe UI (> 3 times/week) 86.2% vs 43.5% (P = 0.00111) for GAUs and CMDs, respectively. There were no significant differences in the rate of referral/intervention for recognized cases of UI by GAUs or CMDs. GAUs referred/treated five (21.7%) cases of mild UI and 10 (40%) cases of severe UI while CMDs referred/treated three (30%) cases of severe UI but did not offer intervention for the one recognized case of mild UI. GAUs were more likely to refer to Continence Programs (12, 25%) compared with CMDs who were more likely to refer (3, 100%) to a urologist. A majority of the subjects with UI did not receive treatment or referral for their problem (8, 72.7% CMDs and 33, 68.6% of GAUs). CONCLUSIONS: GAUs out performed CMDs in the identification of subjects with both mild and severe UI. However, the intervention/referral rates were low for both GAUs and CMDs. The outcome of this study points to the need for increased emphasis on UI in curriculum preparing physicians and other health providers as well as the need for continuing education for those already in practice.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Care of urinary incontinence in the home.

Urinary incontinence (UI) is among the 10 leading diagnoses of illnesses in patients served by home health agencies. Patients may enter home care services with a diagnosis of UI, or the home care nurse may make the initial diagnosis. Detection of UI should be a high priority in home-bound patients, and once detected, a systematic assessment and plan for treatment should be initiated. This article describes basic (Level I) assessment and interventions for the generalist home care nurse and focused (Level II) assessment and interventions for the advanced practice nurse in the home care setting.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

An interdisciplinary approach to the assessment and behavioral treatment of urinary incontinence in geriatric outpatients.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary assessment and behavioral treatment of persistent urinary incontinence in geriatric outpatients. DESIGN: Prospective case series in which frequency of incontinence was measured before and after intervention. SETTING: We established an interdisciplinary continence program within an existing academic center, the Benedum Geriatric Center. PATIENTS: Convenience sample of 70 non-demented outpatients aged 56 to 90 years. Behavioral treatment was provided to 29 patients including many with multiple medical problems (Mean = 6.0 problems). INTERVENTION: Behavioral treatment consisted of biofeedback, pelvic floor muscle exercise, scheduled voiding, and other strategies for preventing accidental urine loss. OUTCOME MEASURE: Outcome of treatment was measured by comparing bladder diaries completed in the 2 weeks immediately following treatment to those completed in the pretreatment phase. RESULTS: Following an average 5.6 treatment sessions, the mean weekly frequency of accidents was reduced from 16.9 to 2.5 (P less than 0.01). Individual reductions ranged from 30.8% to 100% with an average of 81.6% improvement. Ten patients achieved continence. Patients with mixed incontinence had greater improvement than those with urge incontinence alone (P less than 0.05), and patients who reported previous evaluation or treatment had a poorer outcome than those coming for their first evaluation (P = 0.05). Degree of improvement was not significantly related to age, duration of symptoms, baseline frequency of accidents, number of treatment sessions, number of other medical diagnoses, or urodynamic findings. CONCLUSION: We conclude that older adults who are able and willing to participate in behavioral treatment can benefit significantly despite other health problems or disabilities.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Urinary incontinence. Why people do not seek help.

Some of the most frequently cited reasons for not seeking treatment for urinary incontinence are a belief that incontinence is a normal part of aging; a belief that incontinence is a normal sequelae of childbirth; and a lack of knowledge about existing treatment. There is often a lack of knowledge concerning urinary incontinence and its treatment on the part of health-care providers. Some of the methods available to treat urinary incontinence are pelvic floor muscle exercises, medications, and biofeedback. To overcome the barriers to seeking treatment for incontinence, healthcare providers should ask direct questions about urinary incontinence as part of the routine history and physical examination.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Community-based geriatric assessment.

A comprehensive review of the multidisciplinary functional assessment and treatment of 800 patients seen at a community-based geriatric assessment center was performed to profile clinical characteristics of patients attending such a program and to evaluate possible predictors of institutionalization. The most common problems addressed were senile dementia (46%), hypertension (31%), clinically significant depression (30%), and burdened caregiver (24%). More than 90% of patients were able to remain in the community after multidisciplinary treatment of their problems and marshalling of support services. The most potent predictors of institutionalization in rank order of predictive value were: falls or unstable gait, senile dementia, caregiver strain, lack of support services, and moderate to severe impairment of ability to perform activities of daily living (multiple R = 0.45; P = .001). Advantages and impediments to community-based assessment are discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1984

Evaluating clinical performance using simulated patients.

In summary, we believe that nurse practitioners use the nursing process in giving primary health care to patients, and their skill in using that process must be periodically evaluated as they move through their educational program. Further, we believe that consumers have the right to expect a beginning level of competence from graduates of nursing programs. Based on our experience, we believe that the use of the simulated patient, now used primarily in teaching, should be expanded to be of valuable assistance in clinical performance evaluation.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioral and pharmacological treatment of persistent urinary incontinence in the elderly.

Research has demonstrated that behavioral interventions can help to decrease or eliminate urinary incontinence. Pharmacological agents have also been shown to be effective in the management of this problem. This article describes simple low risk behavioral techniques and pharmacological approaches that can be used by nurse practitioners to assist their incontinent patients to control this embarrassing and expensive problem.

Aged↗