Diagnosis and management of female urinary incontinence

Abstract

Urinary incontinence affects an estimated 13 million Americans of which 85% are women. It is an embarrassing and lifestyle limiting condition for which effective treatment is available. Health care providers should be alert to the signs and symptoms of UI and pursue its etiology. Those patients who fail medical therapy, in whom the etiology for the incontinence is unclear, or those patients with concomitant cystocele, enterocele, or rectocele, should be referred to an incontinence specialist.