Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Pervasive Problem Among Healthy Women

Abstract

"Trouble with involuntary loss of urine" is acknowledged by more than one half of the 194 women in two health conscious mostly well-educated populations of presumably healthy women. The proportion of women experiencing incontinence remains relatively constant but the severity increases with age. Multiparity, poor pelvic muscle strength or endurance, and postmenopausal status are the most common associates of stress urinary incontinence (S.U.I.) in an otherwise healthy woman.

We recommend that clinicians and other investigators be alert to screening for S.U.I. Because the literature shows that biofeedback retraining of the pelvic floor muscles can improve poor pelvic muscle strength and endurance and simultaneously reduce the frequency and severity of incontinence, the search for women who might benefit from this information is particularly relevant.