Abstract
Urinary incontinence is a very common condition which seems to be more common in women than men. Epidemiologic studies suggest that as many as 15% of adult women have some degree of incontinence, and a recent study of college women athletes found that a substantial percentage had incontinence associated with effort. If the degree of “bother” is considered, the percentage of women with “troublesome” incontinence at the time of the survey ranges from 3 to 5%. The prevalence of incontinence, which means the cumulative incidence of the problem over time, is much higher than 15%. As a population ages, the incidence of incontinence gradually rises, and as many as 30% or more of the elderly to very elderly are incontinent on a daily basis. A recent English study suggests that approx 11% of women in a rural area undergo surgery for vaginal prolapse and incontinence during their lifetime. A similar study from Hong Kong found that 25% of all gynecologic admissions to hospitals were related to vaginal prolapse and incontinence. Incontinence associated with surgery for prolapse is most often stress incontinence related to urethral dysfunction, but the most common cause of urinary incontinence in women in the industrialized world is uncontrolled detrusor contractility. These figures suggest that incontinence of all kinds is a problem for a substantial number of women during their lifetime. Other data indicates that many—and perhaps most—people with incontinence do not seek medical help for the problem. A German study found that although a substantial number of general practitioners’ patients admitted they had a problem with incontinence, most had never told their doctor about the problem. More surprising, an even higher percentage of urologists’ patients were incontinent, but most had never mentioned it and had not been asked about the problem. Perhaps this explains the large areas in drugstores and grocery stores devoted to adult protective padding diapers and protective undergarments.
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McGuire, E.J. (2001). Assessment of the Incontinent Woman. In: Kursh, E.D., Ulchaker, J.C. (eds) Office Urology. Current Clinical Urology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-010-0_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-010-0_31
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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