ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the common causes and potential consequences of non-specific declines in the frail elderly. Although the term off legs’ has been chosen, non-specific decline could present in other ways, such as off food’ or simply off colour’. The management of constipation should include correcting dehydration and electrolyte disturbances, reducing or stopping unhelpful medications and improving mobility. Maintaining continence is a complex process that requires input from multiple bodily systems. Almost any acute medical illness can precipitate a problem. Overactive bladder is defined as urinary urgency, with or without incontinence, usually with increased daytime frequency and nocturia. Stress UI is caused by an ineffective bladder outflow tract. Usually it occurs in women and is related to a pelvic floor problem impairing sphincter function. Functional UI is a term used to group together factors outside the urinary tract and its innervation that lead to incontinence.
