A guide to diabetic bladder dysfunction

Diagnosing and treating the woman with diabetic bladder dysfunction can appear daunting because the person may have undiagnosed diabetes, age related bladder changes and depending on the stage of bladder dysfunction, either overactive bladder syndrome (OAB) or hypotonic bladder commonly known as underactive bladder (UAB). This article aims to enable nurses to screen for diabetes, to understand age related bladder changes and pathological changes associated with diabetes and how to treat and manage these.  

Diagnosing diabetes 

Type two diabetes has been described as a ‘modern preventable pandemic’ and health services are struggling to keep up with prevention, diagnostics and treatment.¹ More than 4.6 million people in the UK have been diagnosed with diabetes and there are thought to be a further 1.3 million people living with diabetes who have not yet been diagnosed.¹ Diagnosis delays are common and 50% of people diagnosed with diabetes have complications on diagnosis.² People of Afro-Caribbean ethnicity, people over the age of 60 and people with low education levels are most vulnerable to a delayed diagnosis of four to seven years.³ Figure one illustrates rising levels of diagnosed diabetes.