Psychosomatic Aspects of Urinary Incontinence in Women

Urinary incontinence in women is a common problem. With increasing age its prevalence and severity of its manifestations increase. Among nursing home residents the frequency is between 43 and 77%, 6 to 10% of all admissions to nursing homes are due to urinary incontinence. The risk for urinary incontinence among women with cognitive deficits is 1.5- to 3.4-fold higher than for women without mental disorders. The most common form is stress incontinence (50%), followed by mixed stress-urge incontinence (40%) and purely urge incontinence (OAB = overactive bladder, 20%). With regard to its cause, the latter remains unclarified in about 80% of the cases. It is often difficult to treat. There are also cases in which urge incontinence is related to traumatic events. In such cases behavioural and psychotherapeutic options may be helpful. Almost inevitably every form of incontinence has psychological consequences: shame and insecurity are often results of uncontrolled loss of urine. Among others, in the long term, they lead to the avoidance of social contacts and possibly to depression and isolation. Consideration of the psychosomatics is important in the therapy for female urinary incontinence from three points of view: 1) the efficacy of treatment is better suited to the patient, 2) the treatment costs are lower, 3) the professional satisfaction of the responsible physician increases.