Comorbidities of community-dwelling older adults with urinary incontinence: A scoping review

Abstract

Background: Identifying comorbidities is a critical first step to building clinical phenotypes to improve assessment, management, and outcomes.

Objectives: 1) Identify relevant comorbidities of community-dwelling older adults with urinary incontinence, 2) provide insights about relationships between conditions.

Methods: PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Embase were searched. Eligible studies had quantitative designs that analyzed urinary incontinence as the exposure or outcome variable. Critical appraisal was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklists.

Results: Ten studies were included. Most studies had methodological weaknesses in the measurement of conditions. Comorbidities affecting the neurologic, cardiovascular, psychologic, respiratory, endocrine, genitourinary, and musculoskeletal systems were found to be associated with urinary incontinence.

Conclusion: Existing literature suggests that comorbidities and urinary incontinence are interrelated. Further research is needed to examine symptoms, shared mechanisms, and directionality of relationships to generate clinical phenotypes, evidence-based holistic care guidelines, and improve outcomes.

Keywords: Comorbidities; Older adult; Scoping review; Urinary incontinence.