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- Behavioral therapy reduces urinary accidents in elderly patients with urge, stress, and mixed incontinence.
- Bladder training is helpful for urge incontinence; pelvic floor exercises are helpful for stress incontinence; both are helpful for those with mixed incontinence.
- The effect of drug therapy in the elderly is unclear, as there are only a few studies of sufficient methodological quality. However, drug therapy is less effective than behavioral therapy.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of conservative treatment in the community-based elderly (aged ≥55 years) with stress, urge, and mixed urinary incontinence.
Design: Systematic review of before-after studies or randomized controlled trials on the effect of exercise and drug therapy in urinary incontinence.
Main outcomes measured: Reduction of urinary accidents, patient’s perception, cystometric measurement, perineometry, and side effects.
Search strategy: MEDLINE (1966–2001), EMBASE (1986–2001), Science Citation Index (1988–2001), The Cochrane Library, and PiCarta were searched.
Results: Four before-after studies and 4 randomized controlled trials were identified. Drug therapy alone: no study of sufficient quality. Drug therapy compared with behavioral therapy, 3 studies: bladder sphincter biofeedback reduced urinary accidents in cases of urge or mixed incontinence by 80.7%, significantly better than oxybutynin (68.5%) or placebo (39.4%). Adding drug to behavioral treatment or behavioral to drug treatment also resulted in significant reduction in urodynamic urge incontinence (57.5% – 88.5% vs 72.7 – 84.3%). Pelvic floor exercises alone reduced urinary accidents by 48% (compared with 53% for phenylpropanolamine) in patients with mixed or stress incontinence. Behavioral therapy, 5 studies: bladder-sphincter biofeedback in case of urge or mixed incontinence, bladder training in case of urge incontinence and pelvic floor exercises in case of stress incontinence reduced the urinary accidents with 68% to 94%.
Conclusion: There are only a few studies of sufficient methodological quality on the effect of conservative treatment of urinary incontinence in the elderly. Behavioral therapy reduced urinary accidents; the effect of drug therapy is unclear. We recommend behavioral therapy as first choice.
The physiologic goals of treatment are strengthening urethral resistance or reducing detrusor muscle contractions. Behavioral technique—pelvic floor exercises and bladder training with biofeedback—and pharmacotherapy are the treatments of choice for the elderly, provided it is possible to assess the likely health gains. Surgery, the most invasive and riskiest treatment, is usually a last resort.
Methods
The authors performed computerized searches of MEDLINE (1966–2001), EMBASE (1986–2001), the Science Citation Index (1988–2001), the Cochrane Library, and PiCarta. The search was limited to publications in English and Dutch. Search terms were elderly and aged combined with urinary incontinence and conservative management, conservative therapy, conservative treatment, bladder training, drug treatment, pelvic floor muscle training, behavior management, behavior therapy, and biofeedback. We supplemented this search strategy by checking articles referenced in other publications.
The titles and abstracts were then screened for the following inclusion criteria: longitudinal cohort, before-after studies or randomized controlled trials, age ≥55 years, community-dwelling population, and conservative therapy.
Stress incontinence is involuntary leakage on effort or exertion, or on sneezing or coughing. Stress incontinence may result from diminished bulk and tone of perineal tissue or weakness of the pelvic floor muscle.
Urge incontinence is involuntary leakage accompanied by or immediately preceded by urgency. Causes are “deconditioned” voiding reflexes due to chronic low-volume voiding, infection, or bladder stones.
Mixed incontinence is involuntary leakage associated with urgency and with exertion, effort, sneezing, or coughing.
The methodological quality of the selected studies was evaluated by a modified Delphi-2 scale. (This scale is available online at www.jfponline.com, as Table W1).10 Two researchers (TT, AJ) scored the studies independently; they were blinded for information on authors and journals. In cases of disagreement, the researchers met to reach consensus.
After meeting inclusion criteria, randomized controlled trials were scored from 0 to 9; before-after studies from 0 to 3. A randomized controlled trial needed a score of at least 7 to be included; a before-after studied needed a 2.5; in trials where blinding was not possible, a 4 was needed.
Results
The search yielded 157 publications; 135 studies did not meet inclusion criteria. Of the 22 remaining studies, 6 were excluded because they did not use a general population. Consequently, 16 studies were included: 6 with a before-after design and 11 randomized controlled trials.
Methodological quality
The quality scores for the 6 before-after studies ranged from 0 to 3. Two studies scored less than 2.5 and were excluded. (Information on excluded studies is available online at www.jfponline.com as Table W2.)
Quality scores for the 11 randomized controlled trials ranged from 0 to 9. Four of the 5 studies with the possibility to blind scored <7, and 3 of the 6 studies with no possibility to blind scored <4; they were excluded.11,18
Results of drug and behavioral therapy
In 3 studies, the effect of medication alone or in combination with behavioral therapy was examined (Table 1).
Biofeedback is superior. Burgio et al19 studied the effect of bladder-sphincter biofeedback vs oxybutynin and placebo in 190 women with urge or mixed incontinence. Oxybutynin is an anticholinergic drug that reduces detrusor muscle contractions. Anorectal biofeedback helped patients sense pelvic muscles and taught them how to contract and relax these muscles selectively while keeping abdominal muscles relaxed. Patients were taught not to rush to the toilet as a response to the bladder sensation but relax the whole body and contract the pelvic floor. The reduction of urinary accidents in the daily bladder report was significant. This effect was significantly better in the bladder-sphincter biofeedback group compared with the drug group; the drug group had results significantly better than the placebo group.
Success with augmented therapies. Subsequently, researchers offered the patients who were not completely dry to participate in an extension study, which added drug therapy for those in the behavioral therapy group and vice-versa.20 Thirty-five women participated in this study. Both groups had additional significant reductions in urinary accidents as documented in the bladder diary.
Pelvic floor exercises helpful. Wells et al21 compared 6 months of pelvic floor exercises without biofeedback with 2 weeks of phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride, an alpha-adrenergic agonist. (Note that in the US this product has been taken off the market.) Alpha-adrenergic agents stimulate the receptor located in the urethra, increasing urethral pressure. The subjects were 115 women with urodynamic mixed or stress incontinence.
The reduction in urinary accidents was similar in both groups—48% and 53%, respectively. Also the subjective improvement was similar. Only the digital test of pelvic floor muscle strength was significantly better in the pelvic floor exercise group.
TABLE 1
Effect of medication and exercises on urinary incontinence in the elderly
| Study, quality scores | N*, (drop-outs) | Population, age (mean, SD) | Definition of incontinence | Intervention and duration (design) | Measurements and outcomes† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burgio19 (1998), 7.5/7 | 190 (7) | General, 55–92 (69.3 ± 7.9) | At least 2 urge accidents per week for 3 months (urodynamic predominant UI) | Bladder-sphincter bio-feedback twice weekly; 2.5 mg oxybutynin 3 times daily; placebo weeks (RCT) |
|
| Burgio20 (2000), 3/3 | 35 (0) | Subjects not dry or not satisfied after 1 intervention (1998 study), 55–91 (67.7 ± 7.5) | Not given | If behavorial training alone in 1998 study, added drug therapy; if drug therapy alone in study, added behavorial therapy for 8 weeks (B-A) |
|
| Wells21 (1991), 3.5/3 | 115 (38) | Open population, 55–66 (66 ± 8) | Urinary loss of any degree (urodynamic SI, UI, or MI) | PFE for 6 months or 100 mg/d for 2 weeks (RCT) |
|
| * N includes no men | |||||
| † Measurements and outcomes are: | |||||
| |||||
| SD, standard deviation; SI, stress incontinence; UI, urge incontinence; MI, mixed incontinence; RCT, randomized controlled trial; B-A, before-after; PFE, pelvic floor exercise; PPA, phenylpropanolamine | |||||
Results of behavioral therapy only
Five studies focused on the effect of behavioral therapy only (Table 2). Three surveys studied the effect of bladder-sphincter biofeedback, 1 the effect of bladder training without biofeedback, and 1 the effect of pelvic floor exercises with biofeedback.
McDowell et al22,23 used anorectal biofeedback, demonstrating the abdominal pressure and pelvic floor activity to teach patients to relax abdominal muscles selectively and contract/relax the pelvic floor in case of stress, urge, and mixed incontinence. The home exercises consisted of 10 to 15 contractions of the pelvic floor muscles for 10 seconds, followed by an equal period of relaxation in a lying, standing, and sitting position 3 times a day.
They also taught urge strategies. Patients were taught not to rush to the toilet but to relax the whole body, contract the pelvic floor, and increase their voiding interval until they achieved an interval of 2 to 3 hours.
In Burgio et al,24 researchers filled the bladder after voiding; this taught patients to be aware of bladder contractions before they felt any bladder sensation, and to relax the abdominal muscles, contract the pelvic floor, and try to diminish the bladder pressure.
The conclusion of all 3 studies was that bladder-sphincter biofeedback reduced the urinary accidents for stress, urge, and mixed incontinence significantly.
Fantl et al25 examined the effect of bladder training in 123 women with urge incontinence. They were asked to increase their voiding interval until a schedule of once every 3 hours was achieved, or they were admitted to a control group without intervention. Bladder training reduced the urinary accidents significantly for all 3 types of urinary incontinence.
Baigis-Smith et al26 investigated the influence of behavioral intervention in 54 patients who received pelvic floor biofeedback without measuring the abdominal pressure as in previous studies. Patients had to relax and contract their pelvic floor 50 times for 10 seconds, 3 times a day, until they experienced improvement. The number of urinary accidents reduced from 17.4 times a week to 4.2 times a week for stress, urge, and mixed incontinence.
TABLE 2
Effect of behavioral therapy in the elderly with urinary incontinence
| Study, quality scores | N* (% men), dropouts | Population, age UI (mean, SD) | Definition of (type of incontinence | Intervention + duration of intervention (design) | Measurements and outcomes† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baigis-Smith26 (1989), 3/3 | 54 (17%), 0 | General population 60–86 (74.4 ± 7.2) | At least once every 2 weeks (SI, UI, MI by history) | PFE and bio-feedback until improvement (B–A) |
|
| Burgio24 (1985), 3/2.5 | 39 (23%) 0 | General population, 65–86 (74.4 ± 7.2) | At least once a month (urodynamic SI, UI, DI) | Bladder and sphincter biofeed-back 2–4 times weekly, 1–8 ses-sions depending on progress (B–A) |
|
| Fantl25 (1991), 4.5/4.5 | 123 (0%) 0 | General population, 55–90 (67 ± 8) | Not given (urodynamic UI, SI, or MI) | Bladder training/control for 6 weeks (RCT) |
|
| McDowell22 (1992), 3/3 | 29 (7%), 18 | Self-referred to incontinence program or referred by physicians/geeriatricians, 56–90 (74.6 ± 8.1) | At least once every 2 weeks for at least 3 months (SI, UI, MI in bladder diary) | Bladder-sphincter biofeedback twice weekly, duration depanding on the patient’s progress and abilities,average 5.6 sessions (B-A) |
|
| McDowell23 (1999), 5/5 | 93 (10%), 10 | Individuals with incontinence were identified from 2 large HHA and asked to par-ticipate, 60–97 (76.7 ± 7.2) | At least twice a week for at least 3 months (SI, UI, MI in bladder diary) | Bladder-sphincter biofeedback weekly/placebo (crossover) for 8 weeks (RCT) |
|
| * N = number of completers | |||||
† Measurements and outcomes are:
| |||||
| SD, standard deviation; SI, stress incontinence; UI, urge incontinence; MI, mixed incontinence; B-A, before-after; RCT, randomized controlled trial; PFE, pelvic floor exercise; HHA, home health agency | |||||
Discussion
Conservative therapy effective
This review discusses 3 types of behavioral therapy for urinary incontinence: bladder training for urge incontinence (sometimes in combination with pelvic floor exercises), pelvic floor exercises for stress incontinence, and both for mixed incontinence. All 3 types of behavioral therapy reduced urinary accidents in the elderly.
Remarkable is the conclusion of Fantl et al25 that bladder training is also effective for stress incontinence alone. In almost all previous studies on the effectiveness of bladder training, patients with stress incontinence were excluded. More research is needed before we can recommend this therapy for stress incontinence.
Few studies met our methodological quality criteria. The selected studies were difficult to compare because of differences in treatment, methods, and outcomes. For that reason, more research with standardized outcome measures can help establish the relative effectiveness of behavioral therapy—with or without biofeedback—and to evaluate the effect of each therapy in different types of incontinence.
We found 2 methodologically good surveys about the effect of pharmacotherapy in elderly with urinary incontinence. Just 1 study focused on the effect of anticholinergic agents on urge incontinence and mixed incontinence; it found these agents less efficacious than behavioral therapy but better than placebo.
We also found 1 study on alpha-adrenergic agents for stress or mixed incontinence—their ability to reduce urinary accidents seemed comparable with pelvic floor exercise. The weakness of this study was the lack of a control group.
It was remarkable, however, that pelvic floor exercise was less efficacious compared with the other studies. We need more doubleblinded randomized controlled trials to prove clinical efficacy of pharmacology in the elderly with urinary incontinence. In studies with a younger population, anticholinergic agents seem to be effective for urge incontinence, but the effect of adrenergic agents in a younger population is unclear, and has never been investigated in men.27-29
Conclusion
Conservative therapy is effective for elderly patients with stress, urge, or mixed incontinence. Given the effectiveness of behavioral therapy, the absence of the side effects, and its low cost and ease of practice at home, we recommend it as the therapy of choice for urge incontinence in the elderly. We propose pharmacotherapy as second-line therapy for urge incontinence. Surgical treatment should be reserved for those who doo not respond to either of these.
Given the success posible with conservative measures, physicians should routinely ask elderly patients about incontinence.
Corresponding author
Prof. Dr. A.L.M Lagro-Janssen, Department of General Practice and Social Medicine, Nijmegen University, HSV 229, Postbus 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected].
1. Valk M. Urinary incontinence in psychogeriatric nursing home patients. Concept, causes and prevalence. A literature overview [dissertation]. Utrecht: University of Utrecht, 1999.
2. Brocklehurst JC. Urinary incontinence in the community-analysis of a MORI poll. BMJ 1993;306:832-834.
3. Manfrey SJ, Finklestein LH. Treatment of urinary incontinence in the geriatric patient. JAMA 1982;81:691-696.
4. Ouslander JE, Kare RL, Abrass IB. Urinary incontinence in nursing home patients. JAMA 1982;248:1194-1198.
5. Ouslander JE, Karw RL. The cost of urinary incontinence in nursing homes. Med Care 1984;22:69-79.
6. Robinson D, Pearce KF, Preissen JS, Dugan E, Suggs PK, Cohen SJ. Relationship between patient report of urinary incontinence symptoms and quality of life measures. Obstet Gynecol 1998;91:224-228.
7. Simeonova Z, Milson I, Kullendorff AM, Molander U, Bengtsoon C. The prevalence of urinary incontinence and its influence on the quality of life in women from urban Swedish population. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scan 1999;78:546-551.
8. Burgio KL, Ives DG, Locher JC, Arena VC, Kuller LH. Tretament seeking for urinary incontinence in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 1994;42:208-212.
9. Goldstein M, Hawthorne ME, Engberg S, et al. Urinary incontinence: Why people do not seek treatment. J Gerontol Nurs 1992;18:15-20.
10. Verhagen AP, Vet de HC, Bie de RA, et al. The Delphi List: A criteria list for quality assessment of randomized clinical trials for conducting systematic reviews developed by Delphi Consensus. J Clin Epidemiol 1998;51:1235-1241.
11. Bear M, Dwyer JW, Benveneste D, Jett K, Dougherty M. Home based management of urinary incontinence: a pilot study with both frail and independent elders. J Wound Ostomy 1997;24:163-171.
12. Burns PA, Pranikoff K, Nochajski TH, Hadley EC, Levy KJ, Ory MG. A comparison of effectiveness of biofeedback and pelvic muscle exercise treatment of stress incontinence in older community-dwelling women. J Gerontol 1993;48:M167-M174.
13. Burton JR, Pearce KL, Burgio LK, Engel BT, Whitehead WE. Behavioral training for urinary incontinence in elderly ambulatory patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 1988;36:693-698.
14. Molander U, Mislon I, Ekelund P, Arvidsson L, Eriksson O. A health care program for the investigation and treatment of elderly women with urinary incontinence and related urogenital symptoms. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 1991;70:137-142.
15. Ouslander JG. Effects of Terodiline on urinary incontinence among older non-institutionalized women. J Am Geriatr Soc 1993;41:915-922.
16. Szonyi G, Collas DM, Ding YY, Malone-Lee JG. Oxybutynin with bladder retraining for detrusor instability in elderly people: a randomized trial. Age Ageing 1995;24:287-291.
17. Tapp AJ, Cardozo LD, Versi E, Cooper D. The treatment of detrusor instability in post-meopausal women with oxybutynin chloride: a double blind placebo controlled study. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1990;97:521-526.
18. Walter S, Hansen J, Hansen L, Maegaard E, Meyhoff HH, Nordling J. Urinary incontinence in old age. A controlled clinical trail of emepronium bromide. Br J Urol 1982;54:249-251.
19. Burgio KL, Locher JL, Goode PS, et al. Behavioral vs drug treatment for urge urinary incontinence in older women: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1998;280:1995-2000.
20. Burgio KL, Locher JL, Goode PS. Combined behavioral and drug therapy for urge incontinence in older women. J Am Geriatr Soc 2000;48:370-374.
21. Wells TJ, Brink CA, Diokno AC, Wolfe R, Gillis GL. Pelvic muscle exercise for stress urinary incontinence in elderly women. J Am Geriatr Soc 1991;39:785-791.
22. McDowell BJ, Burgio KL, Dombrowski M, Locher JL, Rodriguez E. An interdisciplinary approach to the assessment and behavioral treatment of urinary incontinence in geriatric outpatients. Am Geriatr Soc 1992;40:370-374.
23. McDowell BJ, Engberg S, Sereika S, et al. Effectiveness of behavioral therapy to treat incontinence in homebound older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 1999;47:309-318.
24. Burgio KL, Whitehead WE, Engel BT. Urinary incontinence in the elderly. Bladder-sphincter biofeedback and toileting skills training. Ann Intern Med 1985;103:507-515.
25. Fantl JA, Wyman JF, McClish DK, et al. Efficacy of bladder training in older women with urinary incontinence. JAMA 1991;265:609-613.
26. Baigis-Smith J, Smith DA, Rose M, Newman DK. Managing urinary incontinence in community-residing elderly persons. Gerontologist 1989;29:229-233.
27. Herbison P, Hay-Smith J, Ellis G, Moore K. Effectiveness of anticholinergic drugs compared with placebo in the treatment of overactive bladder: systematic review. Br Med J 2003;326:841-844.
28. Alhasso A, Glazener CMA, Pickard R, N’Dow J. Adrenergic drugs for urinary incontinence in aldults (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library., Issue 2, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.
29. Hay-Smith J, Herbison P, Ellis G, Moore K. Anticholinergic drugs versus placebo for overactive bladder syndrome in adults (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library., Issue 2, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.
- Behavioral therapy reduces urinary accidents in elderly patients with urge, stress, and mixed incontinence.
- Bladder training is helpful for urge incontinence; pelvic floor exercises are helpful for stress incontinence; both are helpful for those with mixed incontinence.
- The effect of drug therapy in the elderly is unclear, as there are only a few studies of sufficient methodological quality. However, drug therapy is less effective than behavioral therapy.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of conservative treatment in the community-based elderly (aged ≥55 years) with stress, urge, and mixed urinary incontinence.
Design: Systematic review of before-after studies or randomized controlled trials on the effect of exercise and drug therapy in urinary incontinence.
Main outcomes measured: Reduction of urinary accidents, patient’s perception, cystometric measurement, perineometry, and side effects.
Search strategy: MEDLINE (1966–2001), EMBASE (1986–2001), Science Citation Index (1988–2001), The Cochrane Library, and PiCarta were searched.
Results: Four before-after studies and 4 randomized controlled trials were identified. Drug therapy alone: no study of sufficient quality. Drug therapy compared with behavioral therapy, 3 studies: bladder sphincter biofeedback reduced urinary accidents in cases of urge or mixed incontinence by 80.7%, significantly better than oxybutynin (68.5%) or placebo (39.4%). Adding drug to behavioral treatment or behavioral to drug treatment also resulted in significant reduction in urodynamic urge incontinence (57.5% – 88.5% vs 72.7 – 84.3%). Pelvic floor exercises alone reduced urinary accidents by 48% (compared with 53% for phenylpropanolamine) in patients with mixed or stress incontinence. Behavioral therapy, 5 studies: bladder-sphincter biofeedback in case of urge or mixed incontinence, bladder training in case of urge incontinence and pelvic floor exercises in case of stress incontinence reduced the urinary accidents with 68% to 94%.
Conclusion: There are only a few studies of sufficient methodological quality on the effect of conservative treatment of urinary incontinence in the elderly. Behavioral therapy reduced urinary accidents; the effect of drug therapy is unclear. We recommend behavioral therapy as first choice.
The physiologic goals of treatment are strengthening urethral resistance or reducing detrusor muscle contractions. Behavioral technique—pelvic floor exercises and bladder training with biofeedback—and pharmacotherapy are the treatments of choice for the elderly, provided it is possible to assess the likely health gains. Surgery, the most invasive and riskiest treatment, is usually a last resort.
Methods
The authors performed computerized searches of MEDLINE (1966–2001), EMBASE (1986–2001), the Science Citation Index (1988–2001), the Cochrane Library, and PiCarta. The search was limited to publications in English and Dutch. Search terms were elderly and aged combined with urinary incontinence and conservative management, conservative therapy, conservative treatment, bladder training, drug treatment, pelvic floor muscle training, behavior management, behavior therapy, and biofeedback. We supplemented this search strategy by checking articles referenced in other publications.
The titles and abstracts were then screened for the following inclusion criteria: longitudinal cohort, before-after studies or randomized controlled trials, age ≥55 years, community-dwelling population, and conservative therapy.
Stress incontinence is involuntary leakage on effort or exertion, or on sneezing or coughing. Stress incontinence may result from diminished bulk and tone of perineal tissue or weakness of the pelvic floor muscle.
Urge incontinence is involuntary leakage accompanied by or immediately preceded by urgency. Causes are “deconditioned” voiding reflexes due to chronic low-volume voiding, infection, or bladder stones.
Mixed incontinence is involuntary leakage associated with urgency and with exertion, effort, sneezing, or coughing.
The methodological quality of the selected studies was evaluated by a modified Delphi-2 scale. (This scale is available online at www.jfponline.com, as Table W1).10 Two researchers (TT, AJ) scored the studies independently; they were blinded for information on authors and journals. In cases of disagreement, the researchers met to reach consensus.
After meeting inclusion criteria, randomized controlled trials were scored from 0 to 9; before-after studies from 0 to 3. A randomized controlled trial needed a score of at least 7 to be included; a before-after studied needed a 2.5; in trials where blinding was not possible, a 4 was needed.
Results
The search yielded 157 publications; 135 studies did not meet inclusion criteria. Of the 22 remaining studies, 6 were excluded because they did not use a general population. Consequently, 16 studies were included: 6 with a before-after design and 11 randomized controlled trials.
Methodological quality
The quality scores for the 6 before-after studies ranged from 0 to 3. Two studies scored less than 2.5 and were excluded. (Information on excluded studies is available online at www.jfponline.com as Table W2.)
Quality scores for the 11 randomized controlled trials ranged from 0 to 9. Four of the 5 studies with the possibility to blind scored <7, and 3 of the 6 studies with no possibility to blind scored <4; they were excluded.11,18
Results of drug and behavioral therapy
In 3 studies, the effect of medication alone or in combination with behavioral therapy was examined (Table 1).
Biofeedback is superior. Burgio et al19 studied the effect of bladder-sphincter biofeedback vs oxybutynin and placebo in 190 women with urge or mixed incontinence. Oxybutynin is an anticholinergic drug that reduces detrusor muscle contractions. Anorectal biofeedback helped patients sense pelvic muscles and taught them how to contract and relax these muscles selectively while keeping abdominal muscles relaxed. Patients were taught not to rush to the toilet as a response to the bladder sensation but relax the whole body and contract the pelvic floor. The reduction of urinary accidents in the daily bladder report was significant. This effect was significantly better in the bladder-sphincter biofeedback group compared with the drug group; the drug group had results significantly better than the placebo group.
Success with augmented therapies. Subsequently, researchers offered the patients who were not completely dry to participate in an extension study, which added drug therapy for those in the behavioral therapy group and vice-versa.20 Thirty-five women participated in this study. Both groups had additional significant reductions in urinary accidents as documented in the bladder diary.
Pelvic floor exercises helpful. Wells et al21 compared 6 months of pelvic floor exercises without biofeedback with 2 weeks of phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride, an alpha-adrenergic agonist. (Note that in the US this product has been taken off the market.) Alpha-adrenergic agents stimulate the receptor located in the urethra, increasing urethral pressure. The subjects were 115 women with urodynamic mixed or stress incontinence.
The reduction in urinary accidents was similar in both groups—48% and 53%, respectively. Also the subjective improvement was similar. Only the digital test of pelvic floor muscle strength was significantly better in the pelvic floor exercise group.
TABLE 1
Effect of medication and exercises on urinary incontinence in the elderly
| Study, quality scores | N*, (drop-outs) | Population, age (mean, SD) | Definition of incontinence | Intervention and duration (design) | Measurements and outcomes† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burgio19 (1998), 7.5/7 | 190 (7) | General, 55–92 (69.3 ± 7.9) | At least 2 urge accidents per week for 3 months (urodynamic predominant UI) | Bladder-sphincter bio-feedback twice weekly; 2.5 mg oxybutynin 3 times daily; placebo weeks (RCT) |
|
| Burgio20 (2000), 3/3 | 35 (0) | Subjects not dry or not satisfied after 1 intervention (1998 study), 55–91 (67.7 ± 7.5) | Not given | If behavorial training alone in 1998 study, added drug therapy; if drug therapy alone in study, added behavorial therapy for 8 weeks (B-A) |
|
| Wells21 (1991), 3.5/3 | 115 (38) | Open population, 55–66 (66 ± 8) | Urinary loss of any degree (urodynamic SI, UI, or MI) | PFE for 6 months or 100 mg/d for 2 weeks (RCT) |
|
| * N includes no men | |||||
| † Measurements and outcomes are: | |||||
| |||||
| SD, standard deviation; SI, stress incontinence; UI, urge incontinence; MI, mixed incontinence; RCT, randomized controlled trial; B-A, before-after; PFE, pelvic floor exercise; PPA, phenylpropanolamine | |||||
Results of behavioral therapy only
Five studies focused on the effect of behavioral therapy only (Table 2). Three surveys studied the effect of bladder-sphincter biofeedback, 1 the effect of bladder training without biofeedback, and 1 the effect of pelvic floor exercises with biofeedback.
McDowell et al22,23 used anorectal biofeedback, demonstrating the abdominal pressure and pelvic floor activity to teach patients to relax abdominal muscles selectively and contract/relax the pelvic floor in case of stress, urge, and mixed incontinence. The home exercises consisted of 10 to 15 contractions of the pelvic floor muscles for 10 seconds, followed by an equal period of relaxation in a lying, standing, and sitting position 3 times a day.
They also taught urge strategies. Patients were taught not to rush to the toilet but to relax the whole body, contract the pelvic floor, and increase their voiding interval until they achieved an interval of 2 to 3 hours.
In Burgio et al,24 researchers filled the bladder after voiding; this taught patients to be aware of bladder contractions before they felt any bladder sensation, and to relax the abdominal muscles, contract the pelvic floor, and try to diminish the bladder pressure.
The conclusion of all 3 studies was that bladder-sphincter biofeedback reduced the urinary accidents for stress, urge, and mixed incontinence significantly.
Fantl et al25 examined the effect of bladder training in 123 women with urge incontinence. They were asked to increase their voiding interval until a schedule of once every 3 hours was achieved, or they were admitted to a control group without intervention. Bladder training reduced the urinary accidents significantly for all 3 types of urinary incontinence.
Baigis-Smith et al26 investigated the influence of behavioral intervention in 54 patients who received pelvic floor biofeedback without measuring the abdominal pressure as in previous studies. Patients had to relax and contract their pelvic floor 50 times for 10 seconds, 3 times a day, until they experienced improvement. The number of urinary accidents reduced from 17.4 times a week to 4.2 times a week for stress, urge, and mixed incontinence.
TABLE 2
Effect of behavioral therapy in the elderly with urinary incontinence
| Study, quality scores | N* (% men), dropouts | Population, age UI (mean, SD) | Definition of (type of incontinence | Intervention + duration of intervention (design) | Measurements and outcomes† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baigis-Smith26 (1989), 3/3 | 54 (17%), 0 | General population 60–86 (74.4 ± 7.2) | At least once every 2 weeks (SI, UI, MI by history) | PFE and bio-feedback until improvement (B–A) |
|
| Burgio24 (1985), 3/2.5 | 39 (23%) 0 | General population, 65–86 (74.4 ± 7.2) | At least once a month (urodynamic SI, UI, DI) | Bladder and sphincter biofeed-back 2–4 times weekly, 1–8 ses-sions depending on progress (B–A) |
|
| Fantl25 (1991), 4.5/4.5 | 123 (0%) 0 | General population, 55–90 (67 ± 8) | Not given (urodynamic UI, SI, or MI) | Bladder training/control for 6 weeks (RCT) |
|
| McDowell22 (1992), 3/3 | 29 (7%), 18 | Self-referred to incontinence program or referred by physicians/geeriatricians, 56–90 (74.6 ± 8.1) | At least once every 2 weeks for at least 3 months (SI, UI, MI in bladder diary) | Bladder-sphincter biofeedback twice weekly, duration depanding on the patient’s progress and abilities,average 5.6 sessions (B-A) |
|
| McDowell23 (1999), 5/5 | 93 (10%), 10 | Individuals with incontinence were identified from 2 large HHA and asked to par-ticipate, 60–97 (76.7 ± 7.2) | At least twice a week for at least 3 months (SI, UI, MI in bladder diary) | Bladder-sphincter biofeedback weekly/placebo (crossover) for 8 weeks (RCT) |
|
| * N = number of completers | |||||
† Measurements and outcomes are:
| |||||
| SD, standard deviation; SI, stress incontinence; UI, urge incontinence; MI, mixed incontinence; B-A, before-after; RCT, randomized controlled trial; PFE, pelvic floor exercise; HHA, home health agency | |||||
Discussion
Conservative therapy effective
This review discusses 3 types of behavioral therapy for urinary incontinence: bladder training for urge incontinence (sometimes in combination with pelvic floor exercises), pelvic floor exercises for stress incontinence, and both for mixed incontinence. All 3 types of behavioral therapy reduced urinary accidents in the elderly.
Remarkable is the conclusion of Fantl et al25 that bladder training is also effective for stress incontinence alone. In almost all previous studies on the effectiveness of bladder training, patients with stress incontinence were excluded. More research is needed before we can recommend this therapy for stress incontinence.
Few studies met our methodological quality criteria. The selected studies were difficult to compare because of differences in treatment, methods, and outcomes. For that reason, more research with standardized outcome measures can help establish the relative effectiveness of behavioral therapy—with or without biofeedback—and to evaluate the effect of each therapy in different types of incontinence.
We found 2 methodologically good surveys about the effect of pharmacotherapy in elderly with urinary incontinence. Just 1 study focused on the effect of anticholinergic agents on urge incontinence and mixed incontinence; it found these agents less efficacious than behavioral therapy but better than placebo.
We also found 1 study on alpha-adrenergic agents for stress or mixed incontinence—their ability to reduce urinary accidents seemed comparable with pelvic floor exercise. The weakness of this study was the lack of a control group.
It was remarkable, however, that pelvic floor exercise was less efficacious compared with the other studies. We need more doubleblinded randomized controlled trials to prove clinical efficacy of pharmacology in the elderly with urinary incontinence. In studies with a younger population, anticholinergic agents seem to be effective for urge incontinence, but the effect of adrenergic agents in a younger population is unclear, and has never been investigated in men.27-29
Conclusion
Conservative therapy is effective for elderly patients with stress, urge, or mixed incontinence. Given the effectiveness of behavioral therapy, the absence of the side effects, and its low cost and ease of practice at home, we recommend it as the therapy of choice for urge incontinence in the elderly. We propose pharmacotherapy as second-line therapy for urge incontinence. Surgical treatment should be reserved for those who doo not respond to either of these.
Given the success posible with conservative measures, physicians should routinely ask elderly patients about incontinence.
Corresponding author
Prof. Dr. A.L.M Lagro-Janssen, Department of General Practice and Social Medicine, Nijmegen University, HSV 229, Postbus 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected].
- Behavioral therapy reduces urinary accidents in elderly patients with urge, stress, and mixed incontinence.
- Bladder training is helpful for urge incontinence; pelvic floor exercises are helpful for stress incontinence; both are helpful for those with mixed incontinence.
- The effect of drug therapy in the elderly is unclear, as there are only a few studies of sufficient methodological quality. However, drug therapy is less effective than behavioral therapy.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of conservative treatment in the community-based elderly (aged ≥55 years) with stress, urge, and mixed urinary incontinence.
Design: Systematic review of before-after studies or randomized controlled trials on the effect of exercise and drug therapy in urinary incontinence.
Main outcomes measured: Reduction of urinary accidents, patient’s perception, cystometric measurement, perineometry, and side effects.
Search strategy: MEDLINE (1966–2001), EMBASE (1986–2001), Science Citation Index (1988–2001), The Cochrane Library, and PiCarta were searched.
Results: Four before-after studies and 4 randomized controlled trials were identified. Drug therapy alone: no study of sufficient quality. Drug therapy compared with behavioral therapy, 3 studies: bladder sphincter biofeedback reduced urinary accidents in cases of urge or mixed incontinence by 80.7%, significantly better than oxybutynin (68.5%) or placebo (39.4%). Adding drug to behavioral treatment or behavioral to drug treatment also resulted in significant reduction in urodynamic urge incontinence (57.5% – 88.5% vs 72.7 – 84.3%). Pelvic floor exercises alone reduced urinary accidents by 48% (compared with 53% for phenylpropanolamine) in patients with mixed or stress incontinence. Behavioral therapy, 5 studies: bladder-sphincter biofeedback in case of urge or mixed incontinence, bladder training in case of urge incontinence and pelvic floor exercises in case of stress incontinence reduced the urinary accidents with 68% to 94%.
Conclusion: There are only a few studies of sufficient methodological quality on the effect of conservative treatment of urinary incontinence in the elderly. Behavioral therapy reduced urinary accidents; the effect of drug therapy is unclear. We recommend behavioral therapy as first choice.
The physiologic goals of treatment are strengthening urethral resistance or reducing detrusor muscle contractions. Behavioral technique—pelvic floor exercises and bladder training with biofeedback—and pharmacotherapy are the treatments of choice for the elderly, provided it is possible to assess the likely health gains. Surgery, the most invasive and riskiest treatment, is usually a last resort.
Methods
The authors performed computerized searches of MEDLINE (1966–2001), EMBASE (1986–2001), the Science Citation Index (1988–2001), the Cochrane Library, and PiCarta. The search was limited to publications in English and Dutch. Search terms were elderly and aged combined with urinary incontinence and conservative management, conservative therapy, conservative treatment, bladder training, drug treatment, pelvic floor muscle training, behavior management, behavior therapy, and biofeedback. We supplemented this search strategy by checking articles referenced in other publications.
The titles and abstracts were then screened for the following inclusion criteria: longitudinal cohort, before-after studies or randomized controlled trials, age ≥55 years, community-dwelling population, and conservative therapy.
Stress incontinence is involuntary leakage on effort or exertion, or on sneezing or coughing. Stress incontinence may result from diminished bulk and tone of perineal tissue or weakness of the pelvic floor muscle.
Urge incontinence is involuntary leakage accompanied by or immediately preceded by urgency. Causes are “deconditioned” voiding reflexes due to chronic low-volume voiding, infection, or bladder stones.
Mixed incontinence is involuntary leakage associated with urgency and with exertion, effort, sneezing, or coughing.
The methodological quality of the selected studies was evaluated by a modified Delphi-2 scale. (This scale is available online at www.jfponline.com, as Table W1).10 Two researchers (TT, AJ) scored the studies independently; they were blinded for information on authors and journals. In cases of disagreement, the researchers met to reach consensus.
After meeting inclusion criteria, randomized controlled trials were scored from 0 to 9; before-after studies from 0 to 3. A randomized controlled trial needed a score of at least 7 to be included; a before-after studied needed a 2.5; in trials where blinding was not possible, a 4 was needed.
Results
The search yielded 157 publications; 135 studies did not meet inclusion criteria. Of the 22 remaining studies, 6 were excluded because they did not use a general population. Consequently, 16 studies were included: 6 with a before-after design and 11 randomized controlled trials.
Methodological quality
The quality scores for the 6 before-after studies ranged from 0 to 3. Two studies scored less than 2.5 and were excluded. (Information on excluded studies is available online at www.jfponline.com as Table W2.)
Quality scores for the 11 randomized controlled trials ranged from 0 to 9. Four of the 5 studies with the possibility to blind scored <7, and 3 of the 6 studies with no possibility to blind scored <4; they were excluded.11,18
Results of drug and behavioral therapy
In 3 studies, the effect of medication alone or in combination with behavioral therapy was examined (Table 1).
Biofeedback is superior. Burgio et al19 studied the effect of bladder-sphincter biofeedback vs oxybutynin and placebo in 190 women with urge or mixed incontinence. Oxybutynin is an anticholinergic drug that reduces detrusor muscle contractions. Anorectal biofeedback helped patients sense pelvic muscles and taught them how to contract and relax these muscles selectively while keeping abdominal muscles relaxed. Patients were taught not to rush to the toilet as a response to the bladder sensation but relax the whole body and contract the pelvic floor. The reduction of urinary accidents in the daily bladder report was significant. This effect was significantly better in the bladder-sphincter biofeedback group compared with the drug group; the drug group had results significantly better than the placebo group.
Success with augmented therapies. Subsequently, researchers offered the patients who were not completely dry to participate in an extension study, which added drug therapy for those in the behavioral therapy group and vice-versa.20 Thirty-five women participated in this study. Both groups had additional significant reductions in urinary accidents as documented in the bladder diary.
Pelvic floor exercises helpful. Wells et al21 compared 6 months of pelvic floor exercises without biofeedback with 2 weeks of phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride, an alpha-adrenergic agonist. (Note that in the US this product has been taken off the market.) Alpha-adrenergic agents stimulate the receptor located in the urethra, increasing urethral pressure. The subjects were 115 women with urodynamic mixed or stress incontinence.
The reduction in urinary accidents was similar in both groups—48% and 53%, respectively. Also the subjective improvement was similar. Only the digital test of pelvic floor muscle strength was significantly better in the pelvic floor exercise group.
TABLE 1
Effect of medication and exercises on urinary incontinence in the elderly
| Study, quality scores | N*, (drop-outs) | Population, age (mean, SD) | Definition of incontinence | Intervention and duration (design) | Measurements and outcomes† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burgio19 (1998), 7.5/7 | 190 (7) | General, 55–92 (69.3 ± 7.9) | At least 2 urge accidents per week for 3 months (urodynamic predominant UI) | Bladder-sphincter bio-feedback twice weekly; 2.5 mg oxybutynin 3 times daily; placebo weeks (RCT) |
|
| Burgio20 (2000), 3/3 | 35 (0) | Subjects not dry or not satisfied after 1 intervention (1998 study), 55–91 (67.7 ± 7.5) | Not given | If behavorial training alone in 1998 study, added drug therapy; if drug therapy alone in study, added behavorial therapy for 8 weeks (B-A) |
|
| Wells21 (1991), 3.5/3 | 115 (38) | Open population, 55–66 (66 ± 8) | Urinary loss of any degree (urodynamic SI, UI, or MI) | PFE for 6 months or 100 mg/d for 2 weeks (RCT) |
|
| * N includes no men | |||||
| † Measurements and outcomes are: | |||||
| |||||
| SD, standard deviation; SI, stress incontinence; UI, urge incontinence; MI, mixed incontinence; RCT, randomized controlled trial; B-A, before-after; PFE, pelvic floor exercise; PPA, phenylpropanolamine | |||||
Results of behavioral therapy only
Five studies focused on the effect of behavioral therapy only (Table 2). Three surveys studied the effect of bladder-sphincter biofeedback, 1 the effect of bladder training without biofeedback, and 1 the effect of pelvic floor exercises with biofeedback.
McDowell et al22,23 used anorectal biofeedback, demonstrating the abdominal pressure and pelvic floor activity to teach patients to relax abdominal muscles selectively and contract/relax the pelvic floor in case of stress, urge, and mixed incontinence. The home exercises consisted of 10 to 15 contractions of the pelvic floor muscles for 10 seconds, followed by an equal period of relaxation in a lying, standing, and sitting position 3 times a day.
They also taught urge strategies. Patients were taught not to rush to the toilet but to relax the whole body, contract the pelvic floor, and increase their voiding interval until they achieved an interval of 2 to 3 hours.
In Burgio et al,24 researchers filled the bladder after voiding; this taught patients to be aware of bladder contractions before they felt any bladder sensation, and to relax the abdominal muscles, contract the pelvic floor, and try to diminish the bladder pressure.
The conclusion of all 3 studies was that bladder-sphincter biofeedback reduced the urinary accidents for stress, urge, and mixed incontinence significantly.
Fantl et al25 examined the effect of bladder training in 123 women with urge incontinence. They were asked to increase their voiding interval until a schedule of once every 3 hours was achieved, or they were admitted to a control group without intervention. Bladder training reduced the urinary accidents significantly for all 3 types of urinary incontinence.
Baigis-Smith et al26 investigated the influence of behavioral intervention in 54 patients who received pelvic floor biofeedback without measuring the abdominal pressure as in previous studies. Patients had to relax and contract their pelvic floor 50 times for 10 seconds, 3 times a day, until they experienced improvement. The number of urinary accidents reduced from 17.4 times a week to 4.2 times a week for stress, urge, and mixed incontinence.
TABLE 2
Effect of behavioral therapy in the elderly with urinary incontinence
| Study, quality scores | N* (% men), dropouts | Population, age UI (mean, SD) | Definition of (type of incontinence | Intervention + duration of intervention (design) | Measurements and outcomes† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baigis-Smith26 (1989), 3/3 | 54 (17%), 0 | General population 60–86 (74.4 ± 7.2) | At least once every 2 weeks (SI, UI, MI by history) | PFE and bio-feedback until improvement (B–A) |
|
| Burgio24 (1985), 3/2.5 | 39 (23%) 0 | General population, 65–86 (74.4 ± 7.2) | At least once a month (urodynamic SI, UI, DI) | Bladder and sphincter biofeed-back 2–4 times weekly, 1–8 ses-sions depending on progress (B–A) |
|
| Fantl25 (1991), 4.5/4.5 | 123 (0%) 0 | General population, 55–90 (67 ± 8) | Not given (urodynamic UI, SI, or MI) | Bladder training/control for 6 weeks (RCT) |
|
| McDowell22 (1992), 3/3 | 29 (7%), 18 | Self-referred to incontinence program or referred by physicians/geeriatricians, 56–90 (74.6 ± 8.1) | At least once every 2 weeks for at least 3 months (SI, UI, MI in bladder diary) | Bladder-sphincter biofeedback twice weekly, duration depanding on the patient’s progress and abilities,average 5.6 sessions (B-A) |
|
| McDowell23 (1999), 5/5 | 93 (10%), 10 | Individuals with incontinence were identified from 2 large HHA and asked to par-ticipate, 60–97 (76.7 ± 7.2) | At least twice a week for at least 3 months (SI, UI, MI in bladder diary) | Bladder-sphincter biofeedback weekly/placebo (crossover) for 8 weeks (RCT) |
|
| * N = number of completers | |||||
† Measurements and outcomes are:
| |||||
| SD, standard deviation; SI, stress incontinence; UI, urge incontinence; MI, mixed incontinence; B-A, before-after; RCT, randomized controlled trial; PFE, pelvic floor exercise; HHA, home health agency | |||||
Discussion
Conservative therapy effective
This review discusses 3 types of behavioral therapy for urinary incontinence: bladder training for urge incontinence (sometimes in combination with pelvic floor exercises), pelvic floor exercises for stress incontinence, and both for mixed incontinence. All 3 types of behavioral therapy reduced urinary accidents in the elderly.
Remarkable is the conclusion of Fantl et al25 that bladder training is also effective for stress incontinence alone. In almost all previous studies on the effectiveness of bladder training, patients with stress incontinence were excluded. More research is needed before we can recommend this therapy for stress incontinence.
Few studies met our methodological quality criteria. The selected studies were difficult to compare because of differences in treatment, methods, and outcomes. For that reason, more research with standardized outcome measures can help establish the relative effectiveness of behavioral therapy—with or without biofeedback—and to evaluate the effect of each therapy in different types of incontinence.
We found 2 methodologically good surveys about the effect of pharmacotherapy in elderly with urinary incontinence. Just 1 study focused on the effect of anticholinergic agents on urge incontinence and mixed incontinence; it found these agents less efficacious than behavioral therapy but better than placebo.
We also found 1 study on alpha-adrenergic agents for stress or mixed incontinence—their ability to reduce urinary accidents seemed comparable with pelvic floor exercise. The weakness of this study was the lack of a control group.
It was remarkable, however, that pelvic floor exercise was less efficacious compared with the other studies. We need more doubleblinded randomized controlled trials to prove clinical efficacy of pharmacology in the elderly with urinary incontinence. In studies with a younger population, anticholinergic agents seem to be effective for urge incontinence, but the effect of adrenergic agents in a younger population is unclear, and has never been investigated in men.27-29
Conclusion
Conservative therapy is effective for elderly patients with stress, urge, or mixed incontinence. Given the effectiveness of behavioral therapy, the absence of the side effects, and its low cost and ease of practice at home, we recommend it as the therapy of choice for urge incontinence in the elderly. We propose pharmacotherapy as second-line therapy for urge incontinence. Surgical treatment should be reserved for those who doo not respond to either of these.
Given the success posible with conservative measures, physicians should routinely ask elderly patients about incontinence.
Corresponding author
Prof. Dr. A.L.M Lagro-Janssen, Department of General Practice and Social Medicine, Nijmegen University, HSV 229, Postbus 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected].
1. Valk M. Urinary incontinence in psychogeriatric nursing home patients. Concept, causes and prevalence. A literature overview [dissertation]. Utrecht: University of Utrecht, 1999.
2. Brocklehurst JC. Urinary incontinence in the community-analysis of a MORI poll. BMJ 1993;306:832-834.
3. Manfrey SJ, Finklestein LH. Treatment of urinary incontinence in the geriatric patient. JAMA 1982;81:691-696.
4. Ouslander JE, Kare RL, Abrass IB. Urinary incontinence in nursing home patients. JAMA 1982;248:1194-1198.
5. Ouslander JE, Karw RL. The cost of urinary incontinence in nursing homes. Med Care 1984;22:69-79.
6. Robinson D, Pearce KF, Preissen JS, Dugan E, Suggs PK, Cohen SJ. Relationship between patient report of urinary incontinence symptoms and quality of life measures. Obstet Gynecol 1998;91:224-228.
7. Simeonova Z, Milson I, Kullendorff AM, Molander U, Bengtsoon C. The prevalence of urinary incontinence and its influence on the quality of life in women from urban Swedish population. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scan 1999;78:546-551.
8. Burgio KL, Ives DG, Locher JC, Arena VC, Kuller LH. Tretament seeking for urinary incontinence in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 1994;42:208-212.
9. Goldstein M, Hawthorne ME, Engberg S, et al. Urinary incontinence: Why people do not seek treatment. J Gerontol Nurs 1992;18:15-20.
10. Verhagen AP, Vet de HC, Bie de RA, et al. The Delphi List: A criteria list for quality assessment of randomized clinical trials for conducting systematic reviews developed by Delphi Consensus. J Clin Epidemiol 1998;51:1235-1241.
11. Bear M, Dwyer JW, Benveneste D, Jett K, Dougherty M. Home based management of urinary incontinence: a pilot study with both frail and independent elders. J Wound Ostomy 1997;24:163-171.
12. Burns PA, Pranikoff K, Nochajski TH, Hadley EC, Levy KJ, Ory MG. A comparison of effectiveness of biofeedback and pelvic muscle exercise treatment of stress incontinence in older community-dwelling women. J Gerontol 1993;48:M167-M174.
13. Burton JR, Pearce KL, Burgio LK, Engel BT, Whitehead WE. Behavioral training for urinary incontinence in elderly ambulatory patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 1988;36:693-698.
14. Molander U, Mislon I, Ekelund P, Arvidsson L, Eriksson O. A health care program for the investigation and treatment of elderly women with urinary incontinence and related urogenital symptoms. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 1991;70:137-142.
15. Ouslander JG. Effects of Terodiline on urinary incontinence among older non-institutionalized women. J Am Geriatr Soc 1993;41:915-922.
16. Szonyi G, Collas DM, Ding YY, Malone-Lee JG. Oxybutynin with bladder retraining for detrusor instability in elderly people: a randomized trial. Age Ageing 1995;24:287-291.
17. Tapp AJ, Cardozo LD, Versi E, Cooper D. The treatment of detrusor instability in post-meopausal women with oxybutynin chloride: a double blind placebo controlled study. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1990;97:521-526.
18. Walter S, Hansen J, Hansen L, Maegaard E, Meyhoff HH, Nordling J. Urinary incontinence in old age. A controlled clinical trail of emepronium bromide. Br J Urol 1982;54:249-251.
19. Burgio KL, Locher JL, Goode PS, et al. Behavioral vs drug treatment for urge urinary incontinence in older women: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1998;280:1995-2000.
20. Burgio KL, Locher JL, Goode PS. Combined behavioral and drug therapy for urge incontinence in older women. J Am Geriatr Soc 2000;48:370-374.
21. Wells TJ, Brink CA, Diokno AC, Wolfe R, Gillis GL. Pelvic muscle exercise for stress urinary incontinence in elderly women. J Am Geriatr Soc 1991;39:785-791.
22. McDowell BJ, Burgio KL, Dombrowski M, Locher JL, Rodriguez E. An interdisciplinary approach to the assessment and behavioral treatment of urinary incontinence in geriatric outpatients. Am Geriatr Soc 1992;40:370-374.
23. McDowell BJ, Engberg S, Sereika S, et al. Effectiveness of behavioral therapy to treat incontinence in homebound older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 1999;47:309-318.
24. Burgio KL, Whitehead WE, Engel BT. Urinary incontinence in the elderly. Bladder-sphincter biofeedback and toileting skills training. Ann Intern Med 1985;103:507-515.
25. Fantl JA, Wyman JF, McClish DK, et al. Efficacy of bladder training in older women with urinary incontinence. JAMA 1991;265:609-613.
26. Baigis-Smith J, Smith DA, Rose M, Newman DK. Managing urinary incontinence in community-residing elderly persons. Gerontologist 1989;29:229-233.
27. Herbison P, Hay-Smith J, Ellis G, Moore K. Effectiveness of anticholinergic drugs compared with placebo in the treatment of overactive bladder: systematic review. Br Med J 2003;326:841-844.
28. Alhasso A, Glazener CMA, Pickard R, N’Dow J. Adrenergic drugs for urinary incontinence in aldults (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library., Issue 2, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.
29. Hay-Smith J, Herbison P, Ellis G, Moore K. Anticholinergic drugs versus placebo for overactive bladder syndrome in adults (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library., Issue 2, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.
1. Valk M. Urinary incontinence in psychogeriatric nursing home patients. Concept, causes and prevalence. A literature overview [dissertation]. Utrecht: University of Utrecht, 1999.
2. Brocklehurst JC. Urinary incontinence in the community-analysis of a MORI poll. BMJ 1993;306:832-834.
3. Manfrey SJ, Finklestein LH. Treatment of urinary incontinence in the geriatric patient. JAMA 1982;81:691-696.
4. Ouslander JE, Kare RL, Abrass IB. Urinary incontinence in nursing home patients. JAMA 1982;248:1194-1198.
5. Ouslander JE, Karw RL. The cost of urinary incontinence in nursing homes. Med Care 1984;22:69-79.
6. Robinson D, Pearce KF, Preissen JS, Dugan E, Suggs PK, Cohen SJ. Relationship between patient report of urinary incontinence symptoms and quality of life measures. Obstet Gynecol 1998;91:224-228.
7. Simeonova Z, Milson I, Kullendorff AM, Molander U, Bengtsoon C. The prevalence of urinary incontinence and its influence on the quality of life in women from urban Swedish population. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scan 1999;78:546-551.
8. Burgio KL, Ives DG, Locher JC, Arena VC, Kuller LH. Tretament seeking for urinary incontinence in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 1994;42:208-212.
9. Goldstein M, Hawthorne ME, Engberg S, et al. Urinary incontinence: Why people do not seek treatment. J Gerontol Nurs 1992;18:15-20.
10. Verhagen AP, Vet de HC, Bie de RA, et al. The Delphi List: A criteria list for quality assessment of randomized clinical trials for conducting systematic reviews developed by Delphi Consensus. J Clin Epidemiol 1998;51:1235-1241.
11. Bear M, Dwyer JW, Benveneste D, Jett K, Dougherty M. Home based management of urinary incontinence: a pilot study with both frail and independent elders. J Wound Ostomy 1997;24:163-171.
12. Burns PA, Pranikoff K, Nochajski TH, Hadley EC, Levy KJ, Ory MG. A comparison of effectiveness of biofeedback and pelvic muscle exercise treatment of stress incontinence in older community-dwelling women. J Gerontol 1993;48:M167-M174.
13. Burton JR, Pearce KL, Burgio LK, Engel BT, Whitehead WE. Behavioral training for urinary incontinence in elderly ambulatory patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 1988;36:693-698.
14. Molander U, Mislon I, Ekelund P, Arvidsson L, Eriksson O. A health care program for the investigation and treatment of elderly women with urinary incontinence and related urogenital symptoms. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 1991;70:137-142.
15. Ouslander JG. Effects of Terodiline on urinary incontinence among older non-institutionalized women. J Am Geriatr Soc 1993;41:915-922.
16. Szonyi G, Collas DM, Ding YY, Malone-Lee JG. Oxybutynin with bladder retraining for detrusor instability in elderly people: a randomized trial. Age Ageing 1995;24:287-291.
17. Tapp AJ, Cardozo LD, Versi E, Cooper D. The treatment of detrusor instability in post-meopausal women with oxybutynin chloride: a double blind placebo controlled study. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1990;97:521-526.
18. Walter S, Hansen J, Hansen L, Maegaard E, Meyhoff HH, Nordling J. Urinary incontinence in old age. A controlled clinical trail of emepronium bromide. Br J Urol 1982;54:249-251.
19. Burgio KL, Locher JL, Goode PS, et al. Behavioral vs drug treatment for urge urinary incontinence in older women: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1998;280:1995-2000.
20. Burgio KL, Locher JL, Goode PS. Combined behavioral and drug therapy for urge incontinence in older women. J Am Geriatr Soc 2000;48:370-374.
21. Wells TJ, Brink CA, Diokno AC, Wolfe R, Gillis GL. Pelvic muscle exercise for stress urinary incontinence in elderly women. J Am Geriatr Soc 1991;39:785-791.
22. McDowell BJ, Burgio KL, Dombrowski M, Locher JL, Rodriguez E. An interdisciplinary approach to the assessment and behavioral treatment of urinary incontinence in geriatric outpatients. Am Geriatr Soc 1992;40:370-374.
23. McDowell BJ, Engberg S, Sereika S, et al. Effectiveness of behavioral therapy to treat incontinence in homebound older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 1999;47:309-318.
24. Burgio KL, Whitehead WE, Engel BT. Urinary incontinence in the elderly. Bladder-sphincter biofeedback and toileting skills training. Ann Intern Med 1985;103:507-515.
25. Fantl JA, Wyman JF, McClish DK, et al. Efficacy of bladder training in older women with urinary incontinence. JAMA 1991;265:609-613.
26. Baigis-Smith J, Smith DA, Rose M, Newman DK. Managing urinary incontinence in community-residing elderly persons. Gerontologist 1989;29:229-233.
27. Herbison P, Hay-Smith J, Ellis G, Moore K. Effectiveness of anticholinergic drugs compared with placebo in the treatment of overactive bladder: systematic review. Br Med J 2003;326:841-844.
28. Alhasso A, Glazener CMA, Pickard R, N’Dow J. Adrenergic drugs for urinary incontinence in aldults (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library., Issue 2, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.
29. Hay-Smith J, Herbison P, Ellis G, Moore K. Anticholinergic drugs versus placebo for overactive bladder syndrome in adults (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library., Issue 2, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.