Intermittent catheterization (IC) is now the best practice for the treatment of patients with urinary retention. IC not only has a better safety profile than indwelling bladder catheterization, but also offers greater autonomy and fewer intimate and sexual barriers.
To perform IC, "training" the patient to perform the maneuver is of fundamental importance.
The primary objective of the project was to evaluate treatment adherence after standardization of IC training in different centers in the same region; the secondary objective was to evaluate clinical benefits (well-being and safety); the tertiary objective was to evaluate problems.

The project was divided into three phases:
- 2019 Adherence to treatment (production of materials and sharing of standardized training methods defined in specific meetings);
- 2020 Continence control (administration of questionnaires);
- 2024 Concerns (administration of questionnaires).
For the part dedicated to training on the cochlear implant, anatomical cards, dedicated mannequins and information brochures were used.
For the evaluation part, questionnaires were used to evaluate the appreciation/satisfaction with the treatment and to identify the most relevant concerns for the patient at the time of training and after its execution.

Treatment adherence was assessed on 43 patients (24 men and 19 women) who were naive candidates for IC; adherence to IC exceeded the national average and, one year after training, only 14% of patients abandoned the practice of the maneuver.
Continence control involved the evaluation of 40 patients (22 men and 18 women) who had participated in the adherence project who, interviewed at 6-12 months, highlighted satisfaction and a sense of security in the practice of IC with data always higher than 8 out of 10 on a self-assessment scale.
The assessment of concerns was conducted on 55 patients (38 men and 17 women) who were naive candidates for IC; the average value of concern in performing the IC maneuver before training was between 50 and 70% on a scale of 1 to 5 and after training it was reduced by 30-50%, falling to an average value lower than 2 points out of 5.

The results obtained demonstrate how training in CI is more easily learnable through a standardized model and that this leads to an improvement in patient well-being as well as a significant reduction in concerns related to the practice of CI itself.

CI requires an important training phase in which the nurse plays a central role. This phase, of fundamental importance for the continuation of the therapy, is much more effective if practiced with a standardized method and with support tools that facilitate the patient in the execution/understanding of the CI maneuver and help him reduce his worries.