Health literacy, cognition, and urinary incontinence among geriatric inpatients discharged to skilled nursing facilities

Aims To investigate the association between health literacy and cognition and nursing and patient‐reported incontinence in a geriatric inpatient population transitioning to skilled nursing facilities (SNF). Methods Health literacy, depression, and cognition were assessed via the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS), Geriatric Depression Scale 5‐item (GDS) and Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS), respectively. Multivariable logistic regression assessed the association between BHLS score and incontinence by: (1) nursing‐reported urinary incontinence during hospitalization; and (2) patient self‐reported “bladder accidents” in the post‐enrollment study interview. Results A total of 1556 hospitalized patients aged 65 and older met inclusion criteria, of whom 922 (59.3%) were women and 1480 had available BHLS scores. A total of 464 (29.8%) and 515 (33.1%) patients had nursing‐reported and self‐reported urinary incontinence, respectively. Nursing‐reported incontinence was significantly associated with lower BHLS (ie, poorer health literacy) (aOR 0.93, 95%CI 0.89‐0.99) and BIMS (ie, poorer cognition) (aOR 0.90, 95%CI 0.83‐0.97) scores and need for assistance with toileting (aOR 7.08, 95%CI 2.16‐23.21). Patient‐reported incontinence was significantly associated with female sex (aOR 1.62, 95%CI 1.19‐2.21), increased GDS score (ie, greater likelihood of depression) (aOR 1.22, 95%CI 1.10‐1.36) and need for assistance with toileting (aOR 2.46, 95%CI 1.26‐4.79). Conclusions Poorer health literacy and cognition are independently associated with an increased likelihood of nursing‐reported urinary incontinence among geriatric inpatients transitioning to SNF. Practitioners should consider assessment of health literacy and cognition in frail patients at risk for urinary incontinence and that patient and nursing assessment may be required to capture the diagnosis.