Multimorbidity associated with urinary incontinence among older women and men with complex needs in Aotearoa | New Zealand.

AIMS: To investigate the association between multimorbidity and urinary incontinence (UI) among community living older adults with complex needs in sex-specific crude and adjusted analyses.

METHODS: Since 2012 in Aotearoa | New Zealand (NZ) all community-living older people with complex needs who require publicly funded assistance undergo a comprehensive standardized geriatric needs assessment using the interRAI-HC instrument. Consenting adults aged ≥65 years who undertook this assessment between July 5, 2012 and December 31, 2020 were investigated. Multimorbidity was defined as having ≥2 chronic conditions. Recent bladder incontinence episodes were elicited and UI dichotomized into continent and incontinent groups.

RESULTS: The study included 140 401 participants with an average age of 82.0 years (range: 65-107 years), of whom 85 746 (61.1%) were female. Overall, 36 185 (42.2%) females and 17 988 (32.9%) males reported UI. Participants had a median of 3 (range: 0-12) chronic conditions, with 109 135 (77.9%) classified as having multimorbidity. In adjusted modified Poisson regression analyses, the prevalence ratio for UI was 1.21 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19, 1.24) times higher in females and 1.18 (95% CI: 1.14, 1.22) times higher for males with multimorbidity compared to those without multimorbidity.

CONCLUSIONS: Although significant, the estimated sex-specific effect sizes were modest for the association between multimorbidity and UI in this population. However, despite using the comprehensive interRAI-HC instrument, several potentially core chronic conditions were not adequately captured. Although increasingly recognized as an important and growing public health issue, capturing all relevant chronic conditions challenges many epidemiological investigations into multimorbidity.