The Prevalence And Risk Factors Of Fecal Incontinence Among Elderly Women In Nursing Homes In Beijing

BackgroundFecal incontinence (FI) is a kind of the pelvic floor dysfunction diseases of women, which is not uncommon. For patients with pelvic floor dysfunction, fecal incontinence always comes together with urinary incontinence and prolapse of pelvic organs. It is defined as the involuntary loss/leakage of liquid, solid feces and gas from anus. FI can be classified as passive type, urgent type and feces leakage. The dysfunction of multiple factors such as the feces trait, function of the pelvic floor muscles and intestinal motility can cause defecation disturbance.However, patients with fecal incontinence often feel ashamed to report this to their doctors, and the prevalence of fecal incontinence is poorly documented. What’s more, there are varied numbers of prevalence of fecal incontinence in different documents, which may be affected by the differences in diagnostic criteria and patients involved.Fecal incontinence has devastating impacts on physical and psychological well-beings, as well as quality of life for elderly women, which is believed to be one of the main causes of referral to a nursing home.ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence and risk factors of fecal incontinence (FI) among female adults aged65or more in nursing homes in Beijing, and to evaluate their quality of life at the same time.Methods1. We investigated female adults aged65or more from several nursing homes in Beijing, who were surveyed through the following questionnaires.2. The questionnaires included basic information, risk factors, clinical symptoms and the Questionnaire of Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life (FIQL).3. Data analysis was performed using SPSS16.0.ResultsAmong372cases, there were24women who suffered from fecal incontinence.The prevalence was about6.5%overall, which was increasing with age.70.8%(17/24) of FI patients suffered from other pelvic floor dysfunction diseases (urinary incontinence, pelvic organs prolapse). Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries (OA-SIS)(OR=6.670), in combination with other pelvic floor dysfunction diseases (OR=5.749), the first fetal weight (OR=5.519) and delivery times (OR=3.722) were all included as the independent risk factors. Suffering from FI has caused adverse impacts on the quality of life of patients.ConclusionFI is a common and severe disease among female adults aged65or more. Studying the risk factors can help prevent the disease and improve patients’ quality of life, which should be taken seriously and immediately by health authorities.