Nursing home residents used 6 strategies to manage urinary incontinence
QUESTION: How do residents of nursing homes experience living with urinary incontinence (UI)?
Design
Grounded theory.
Setting
3 nursing homes in the metropolitan area of a large, US city.
Participants
Primary participants were 6 women and 4 men (age range 69–93 y, 80% white) who were cognitively intact, spoke English, and acknowledged actual or potential UI related to symptoms of frequency or urgency. Most required moderate to extensive assistance with toileting, had urine leakage, and wore some type of absorbent product. 33 secondary participants (82% women) also showed evidence of actual or potential UI and were encountered during recruitment excursions, formal interviews, or follow up visits to primary participants.
Methods
Primary participants provided an indepth interview, subsequent opportunities to observe and discuss their methods of bladder control, and access to their healthcare records. Secondary participants were observed and interviewed informally as bladder control issues arose. Theoretical saturation occurred after 30 encounters with primary …
