Evaluating primary care interventions for incontinence

Abstract

Regular urinary incontinence affects one in six adult women. However, for the majority, good continence services are difficult to access and few primary care-based assessment and treatment facilities are available. A large randomised trial of assessment and treatment in primary care using a trained nurse was conducted in Somerset in 1990. This report summarises the methods and results of the initial study and reports the four-year follow-up results. The results show that 70 percent of women will gain long lasting benefit. This model of service provision will also benefit secondary care specialist services by ensuring that patients are appropriately managed in primary care before any possible referral.