title: Aspects on the actual practice of surgical management of urinary incontinence in Norway and Finland.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To elucidate aspects of the actual practice of surgical management of urinary incontinence in Norway and Finland.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire about preoperative diagnostic procedures, type of surgery, follow-up procedure and number of operations per center and per surgeon per year (1995) was sent to all departments of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Norway and Finland.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-one (86%) of the Norwegian and 26 (90%) of the Finnish departments returned the questionnaire. More than 90% of the departments performed preoperative urodynamic evaluation. Burch colposuspension was used by more than 90% of the departments in the two countries. Generally the number of procedures per center and per department was low. Twenty-nine and 12% of the departments respectively did not perform any follow-up after surgery. Only 16% of the Norwegian and 23% of the Finnish centers had controlled results of surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There seems to be a need for criteria of good clinical practice or a reference program for all steps of surgical management of stress incontinence in order to stimulate the process of quality development of this treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Glostrup County Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lose
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kulseng-Hanssen
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Nilsson
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D009775:Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Hospital; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014563:Urodynamics