Indwelling catheter use in home care: elderly, aged 65, in 11 different countries in Europe

Objective: to describe possible differences/patterns in the use of indwelling urinary catheters (IUC) in Europe. Design: a prospective, population-based, assessment study. Setting: the target population was 4,455 (random sample of 405 from each of 11 countries) aged 65+ receiving home care. Methods: the clients were assessed by using the Resident Assessment Instrument MDS-HC; epidemiological and medical characteristics of clients and service utilisation were recorded. Measurements: the frequency of use of IUC related to the patients ’ activities of daily living (ADL) and cognitive functioning. Results: the sample consisted of 4,010 informants: 74 % female, with mean age 82.3 ± 7.3 years; men 80.9 ± 7.5 years and female 82.8 ± 7.3 years. A total of 216 (5.4%) clients were using IUC. In Italy 23 % were using a catheter compared with 0% in The Netherlands. Catheter use was more common in men than in women (11.5 % versus 3.3%). Use of IUC was signifi-cantly correlated to certain diseases and symptoms and increase in care burden and formal services. Twenty-six per cent of the informants with indwelling catheters scored three or more on a hierarchical ADL scale (0–6). The clients using IUC in the Nordic countries were less dependent on care than in the other European countries. Models built on multivariate analysis explained 37 % of the use of IUC. Tradition and attitudes may explain the differences between the sites