Abstract: A Comprehensive Screening Program for Urinary Dysfunction in Older Adults

Caralee Sueppel, RN, CURN, BLS, MSN, Christal Arthur, RN, BSN, JD, Kyle Van Why, RN, MSN, Mary Lepic, RN, BSN, and Kathy Foutain, RN. "A Comprehensive Screening Program for Urinary Dysfunction in Older Adults." Urologic Nursing 16 (March 1996) 1: 14-19.

Objectives:
* To describe a clinical screening program for assessing bladder function in older adults and how the use of the BladderScan^® contributed to the success of this program.

Methods:
* Nurses from a large Midwestern teaching hospital and from the county home health care agency collaborated to form a lower urinary tract screening clinic. Screening for bladder dysfunction involved a self-report questionnaire, a dipstick (enzyme) test for urinalysis, bladder volume measurement by ultrasound to determine post-void residual (the amount of fluid remaining in the bladder after urination), and an educational program addressing bladder health.

Results:
* Forty-seven percent of the participants were referred to a physician for high post-void residuals, abnormal urinalysis, or both. The program model proved popular, and was subsequently repeated at other sites.
* The use of ultrasound technology to measure bladder volume helped to attract participants to the program.

Conclusions:
* The bladder function assessment program proved to be "an effective way of identifying a health need and of providing a way to interrupt the health and social problems from urinary incontinence from running their full course."
* Bladder volume ultrasonography provided a safe, non-invasive way of assessing post-void residual among participants in this program.

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