Nurses' interventions in the management of urinary incontinence in the elderly: An integrative review

Abstract

The objective of this study was to verify the strategies that nurses use to manage urinary incontinence (UI) in the elderly. An integrative literature review was performed on the following databases: WEB OF SCIENCE, MEDLINE, SCOPUS and CINAHL, in the period from 2006 to 2010. A total of 186 articles were located, and after excluding duplicates and performing a careful reading of the full articles, the sample was comprised of seven articles. Most studies utilize an overall approach to urinary incontinence, without characterizing the type or the subjects' claims. Only one study addressed the management of urinary incontinence in the elderly with dementia; another specified the type (hyperactive bladder). Therefore, there is a need for further clinical nursing studies regarding the management of urinary incontinence, aiming to provide scientific evidence to support this practice.