Urinary incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine. This medical condition is common in the elderly, especially in nursing homes, but it can affect younger adult males and females as well. Urinary incontinence can impact both patient health and quality of life. The prevalence may be underestimated as some patients do not inform health care providers of having issues with urinary incontinence for various reasons.
Several different types of urinary incontinence exist, including stress urinary incontinence, urge urinary incontinence, functional incontinence, mixed incontinence, and overflow incontinence. In most cases, urologic or gynecologic assessment is not necessary during the initial evaluation, but reversible causes should be ruled out. The management of urinary incontinence depends upon which type of incontinence is present and the severity of the symptoms.
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