Classification of incontinence

Abstract

A clinical definition of incontinence and a clinical classification of its various forms is offered for consideration. The classification is part of a wider classification of handicaps being prepared to supplement existing classifications of diseases and disorders classified according to aetiology, systems, and anatomy. Nine handicaps (locomotor, visceral, visual, communication, intellectual, emotional, invisible, and "other") are distinguished. Incontinence is classified as a "disorder of excretion, which is itself one of four divisions of visceral handicap'.