Importance Urinary incontinence, the involuntary loss of urine, is a common health condition that may decrease quality of life. Ten to twenty percent of women and up to 77% of women residing in nursing homes have urinary incontinence, yet only 25% seek or receive treatment. Observations This review summarizes the evaluation and therapeutic options for women affected by urinary incontinence. T...

BACKGROUND Fecal incontinence is a common problem that has been associated with anatomic, physiological, and medical conditions. There are very few data on the factors associated with fecal incontinence in elderly women. OBJECTIVES We aimed to determine the factors associated with fecal incontinence via a population-based survey in a large cohort of elderly Australian women. DESIGN AND SETT...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the prevalence of isolated urinary and fecal incontinence and double incontinence in community-living stroke survivors and to assess the degree of soiling. DESIGN Community-based postal survey. SETTING Leicestershire, United Kingdom. PARTICIPANTS Sixty-four thousand seven hundred forty-nine community-dwelling residents (aged > or = 40) were randomly selected from...

PURPOSE We compared the prevalence of urinary incontinence by type among white, black, Hispanic and Asian-American women. MATERIALS AND METHODS The RRISK is a population based cohort study of 2,109 randomly selected middle-aged and older women. Incontinence and other variables were assessed by self-report questionnaires and in person interviews. Labor and delivery and surgical data were abstr...

BACKGROUND The prevalence and impact of urinary incontinence has been investigated much less in older men than in older women. It is suggested that those who perceive that their daily lives are affected should have priority for services. However, many people do not seek medical help, even though they may be severely affected. AIM To investigate unmet need in relation to the prevalence and imp...

BACKGROUND The under-reporting of incontinence in older persons is well known. However, the general practitioner's (GP's) knowledge of incontinence in this population is less wall documented. AIM To examine the knowledge of Irish GPs regarding incontinence in patients aged over 75, and to examine the relationship between incontinence and cognitive function in this age group. METHOD Sixty-fo...

Urinary Incontinence (UI) is dened any involuntary leakage of urine. It is twice as common in women as in men and affects at least 1 in 3 older women. It is not a normal result of aging. Rather it is a medical problem that is often curable and should be treated. Urine is stored in the bladder and emptied via the urethra. During urination, muscles of the bladder wall contract, forcing urine fro...

In response to the growing population of older patients with incontinence, pharmaceutical companies are developing new drugs to treat the condition. Before prescribing medications for incontinence, however, physicians should determine the nature and cause of the patient's incontinence. The evaluation should rule out reversible conditions, conditions requiring special evaluation, and overflow bl...

CONTEXT Urinary incontinence is a prevalent condition and treatment options can depend on what type of incontinence is present. OBJECTIVE To systematically review the evidence about the most accurate way to determine the type of urinary incontinence during an office assessment. DATA SOURCES A search of MEDLINE using Ovid (1966-July 2007) and EMBASE (1980-July 2007), and the bibliographies o...