GPs should actively ask about Symptoms of Urinary or Faecal Incontinence in Ageing Female Patients

Abstract

<p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <b></b></p><p><b>Objectives: </b>To investigate how common incontinence problem is and how it could be detected in an unselected population. </p><p> <b></b></p><p><b>Methods: </b>Cross-sectional study in primary care population. A population survey of women born in 1948 or 1950 and living in a municipality with 19,535 inhabitants in south-western Finland in 2017. Main outcome measures were <b>i</b>ncidence of urinary or faecal incontinence. </p><p> <b></b></p><p><b>Results: </b>After analyzing the questionnaires and research findings, we found that urinary incontinence is a common phenomenon, reported by 50.3% of participants. According to the Urinary Incontinence Severity Score (UISS), 12.7% of them believed that the degree of disability was remarkable, and according to the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), 18.3% considered the degree of disability to be difficult. In this study obesity was the most common feature affecting urinary incontinence. </p><p> <b></b></p><p><b>Conclusion: </b>Urinary incontinence is a common problem and will increase as the population ages. It can deteriorate a person’s quality of life, increase her need of care and involve considerable costs. Preventing the problem and treating it as early as possible in primary health-care is both reasonable and saves time and money. </p><p> <b><i></i></b></p><i><p></p><p><b>Keywords: </b>Conservative Treatment, Lifestyle, Medication, Quality of life, Urinary incontinence </p><p></p></i><p><br /></p>