Urinary incontinence in the elderly
EBM Guidelines
Dec 2, 2024 • Completely updated
Table of contents
Extract
- Urinary incontinence in an elderly person affects the patient’s and his/her family’s quality of life as well as health care costs. It increases the need for assisted accommodation and round-the-clock care and the risk of falls, for example.
- The patient is often too embarrassed to seek appropriate help.
- Various treatment options that ease the situation are available to manage urinary incontinence in an elderly person.
- Urinary incontinence should be actively brought up in health care contacts.
Linked evidence summaries
- Local oestrogen treatment appears to improve incontinence. However , systemic use may make incontinence worse.B↑
- Anticholinergic drugs are effective for overactive bladder syndrome and urgency urinary incontinence in adults, and more effective than bladder training alone. Dry mouth is a common adverse effect.A↑↑
- Pelvic floor muscle training is effective for women with stress, urge, or mixed incontinence compared with no treatment, placebo, or inactive control treatments.A↑↑
Search terms
Aged, Cholinergic Agents, Geriatrics, Gynaecology, Incontinence, Internal medicine, N39.4, Nephrology, Overflow incontinence, R32, Stress incontinence, Surgery, Urinary Bladder, Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic, Urinary Incontinence, Urinary Incontinence, Urge, Urology, alpha-adrenergic agonists, cholinergic antagonists, detrusor muscle, reflex incontinence