Twenty four-hour monitoring of incontinence and bladder function in a community hospital.

We wished to determine whether 24-hour monitoring of urinary incontinence without video urodynamics would provide adequate information for treatment. Twelve subjects with urinary incontinence (seven women and five men) were investigated, average age 75 years (range 44 to 89 years). Setting was a community hospital (80 beds), a nursing home, and a lodge, 60 miles from the nearest assessment center. Twenty four-hour monitoring consisted of 2 hourly preweighed pad changes, postchange weighing, Uroflow set-up in subject's bathroom, fluid intake record, and 1 postvoid residual ultrasonogram. All subjects had history and physical and evaluation of medications. Findings included probable urge incontinence, stress incontinence, chronic retention with overflow, and normal bladder function. Recommendations included oxybutynin chloride, timed toileting, timed fluid restriction, diuretic manipulation, intermittent catheterization, pessary, and surgery. At 6 weeks, 25% (4/12) were better (three with urge incontinence and one after operation for stress incontinence). Video urodynamics were conducted only for the patient with stress incontinence after operation. We suggest that 24-hour monitoring is noninvasive, is less disruptive and less expensive than video urodynamics, and provides adequate information for initial treatment in many patients with urinary incontinence.