Abstract
Study design:
Epidemiological follow-up study.
Objective:
To evaluate urinary incontinence and its management in a population of individuals with long-term spinal cord injury (SCI).
Setting:
Clinic for Spinal Cord Injuries and Department of Urology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
Methods:
Retrospective data collection from the patient records and information from a follow-up questionnaire of traumatic SCI individuals at least 10 years after injury. A total of 236 patients participated (84.6% response), 82% males and 18% females, 47% tetraplegic and 53% paraplegic, injured between 1956 and 1990. Age at the time of follow-up was 28–84 years (mean 50.5 years). Years of follow-up were 10–45 years (mean 24.1 years).
Results:
A total of 43% of the participants reported incontinence from less than once a week to daily. There was a significant linear trend across the groups of incontinence with more paraplegics reporting daily incontinence compared with tetraplegics. A higher proportion of participants using clean intermittent catheterization reported incontinence (56%) compared with participants using other bladder-emptying methods. Only 19% of the participants used medication for the management of incontinence.
Conclusion:
Urinary incontinence is a common problem in individuals with SCI. Only a minority of individuals used medication for the treatment of incontinence.
Sponsorship:
This study was carried out as a part of the primary author's PhD study, financed by the Medicon Valley Academy and Coloplast A/S.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank secretary Lisbeth Nielsen, Clinic for Spinal Cord Injuries, for all her technical and practical assistance during the project. This study was carried out as part of the primary author's PhD study, which was financed by the Medicon Valley Academy and Coloplast A/S.
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Hansen, R., Biering-Sørensen, F. & Kristensen, J. Urinary incontinence in spinal cord injured individuals 10–45 years after injury. Spinal Cord 48, 27–33 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.2009.46
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.2009.46
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