Approach to female urinary incontinence : Part 1 : Medical management

Abstract

Urinary incontinence is defined as the involuntary loss of urine. It is a ubiquitous disorder, thought to occur more commonly than more familiar health issues such as hypertension, diabetes, and depression. It is a condition whose profile of affected patients includes women of all age groups and which transcends socioeconomic and cultural circumstance.2 Given the above, the social, emotional, and economic impact of the disease on individuals and communities is self-evident. The true prevalence of urinary incontinence world-wide, and in South Africa is essentially unknown. Community based studies have reported the prevalence as ranging between 14% and 67%, showing a large discrepancy from the estimates of physician-based studies, which show an estimated prevalence of between 0.5-5%. This disparity is thought to arise from a combination of underreporting, under-diagnosis, and under-treatment of the disease.