Prevalence of fecal incontinence and associated risk factors in elderly outpatients: a cross-sectional study

• Published in: Aging clinical and experimental research Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 1165 - 1171
• Main Authors: Demir, Nurhan, Yuruyen, Mehmet, Atay, Kadri, Yavuzer, Hakan, Hatemi, Ibrahim, Doventas, Alper, Erdincler, Deniz Suna, Dobrucalı, Ahmet
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Comorbidity; Constipation - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Fecal incontinence; Fecal Incontinence - epidemiology; Fecal Incontinence - etiology; Feces; Female; Females; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Outpatients - statistics & numerical data; Polypharmacy; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Severity of Illness Index; Sex Factors; Turkey - epidemiology; Urinary incontinence; Urinary Incontinence - epidemiology; Urinary incontinence; Fecal incontinence; Prevalence; Polypharmacy; Elderly patients
• ISSN: 1720-8319; 1594-0667; 1720-8319
• DOI: 10.1007/s40520-017-0723-x

Background Data on the prevalence of fecal incontinence in elderly patients admitted to outpatient clinics in Turkey are scarce. Aims The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of fecal incontinence and the associated risk factors in the elderly outpatients. Methods Patients 60 years and older admitted to a geriatrics outpatient clinic between October 2013 and March 2014 were included. Demographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, marital status, educational status, parity (for females), fecal incontinence (FI), urinary incontinence (UI), constipation, comorbid conditions, and medications were recorded. FI assessment was based on the Fecal Incontinence Severity Index (FISI). Results A total of 364 patients (64.8% female, n  = 236) with a mean age of 73.2 ± 8.1 years were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of FI was 9.9% (10.2% female, 9.4% male). UI was 42.6%. Co-occurrence of FI and UI was 7.4%. According to the FISI, the most frequent type of defecation was liquid stool (61.1%). While the predictive factors for FI were polypharmacy (standardized coefficient, [ r ] = 0.203, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.009–0.040, p  = 0.002), UI ( r  = 0.134, 95% CI = 0.006–0.156, p  = 0.035), and being married ( r  = 0.200, 95% CI = −0.088 to −0.020, p  = 0.002) in females, those were UI ( r  = 0.306, 95% CI = 0.093–0.309, p  < 0.001) and polypharmacy ( r  = 0.251, 95% CI = 0.009–0.043, p  = 0.003) in males. Conclusions In both genders, urinary incontinence and polypharmacy seem to be the most important risk factors for fecal incontinence. Fecal incontinence should be questioned in detail and evaluated using FISI in elderly outpatients.