Temporary urinary incontinence in the acute psychiatric patient without delirium or dementia

Abstract

In a prospective study of the 295 admissions in one year to an acute psychiatric ward, 14 subjects without delirium or dementia were found to have developed temporary urinary incontinence. When compared with matched controls (n = 56) the incontinent patients were found to be suffering from psychosis (P less than 0.0002) and to have a history of childhood enuresis (P less than 0.01). Compared with psychotic controls (n = 22), the incontinent patients were older (P less than 0.05), they had been exposed to a greater variety of treatments (P less than 0.01), and they had received more thioridazine (P less than 0.04).