Construction and validation of an instrument for the structural assessment of wards for urinary continence in older adults.
Roberta Pereira Góes, Larissa Chaves Pedreira, Camila Oliveira Valente and 3 others
PMID 33084776WHAT IT FOUND
A new 27-item checklist helps nurses assess if hospital wards support older adults' toilet independence.
It scores staffing, bathroom safety, and equipment to identify structural barriers that lead to unnecessary catheter or diaper use.
Key findings
01The instrument assesses three dimensions: physical structure, material resources, and human resources, to determine if the ward supports urinary continence.
02Scores range from 0 to 24, categorizing the ward as having low (0-8), moderate (9-16), or satisfactory (17-24) structural conditions for preserving continence.
03Nine nurses piloted the instrument and found it easy to understand and feasible to apply in clinical wards.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study validated the content of the instrument (expert opinion) but did not test its reliability or ability to predict patient outcomes (construct validity). The pilot test involved only nine nurses in a single unit, so its usability in other settings is unproven. The instrument requires a patient classification system to be in place to score the human resources dimension accurately.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was part of a larger research project approved by the Nursing School at the Federal University of Bahia.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use this score as a measure of patient health or nursing quality directly. It only assesses the physical and staffing environment. A low score indicates structural barriers that may contribute to incontinence, but it does not prove that fixing these barriers will resolve patient continence issues without further clinical intervention.