Incidence and correlates of incontinence in stroke patients

• Published in: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) Vol. 33; no. 8; p. 540
• Main Authors: Brocklehurst, J C, Andrews, K, Richards, B, Laycock, P J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-08-1985
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Aged; Cerebrovascular Disorders - complications; Fecal Incontinence - etiology; Female; Humans; Male; Time Factors; Urinary Incontinence - etiology
• ISSN: 0002-8614
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1985.tb04618.x

The incidence of incontinence in a series of 135 consecutive stroke patients was 51% (urine) and 23% (feces) within one year. In 75% the urinary incontinence started within the first two weeks, and in 41% it had cleared during that time. Incontinence at onset is associated with measures of severity of stroke (and of immobility for fecal incontinence). Among 92 survivors at one year, 15% were incontinent of urine, a proportion that rose in two- and three-year survivors to 23 to 24%, but by four years was again 14%, a level similar to that of the general elderly population. It is concluded that incontinence is more commonly a by-product of immobility and dependency than of involvement of the neurologic pathways, and most of it is transient.