title: Psychosocial impact of urinary incontinence in the elderly population.
abstract: The impact of urinary incontinence extends well beyond the evident physical and physiologic sequelae. Incontinence may leave affected persons in social, emotional, and mental disarray. Measuring the psychosocial impact of a disease, however, is difficult,and there is no single best tool to achieve such an assessment. Several incontinence-specific tools have been devised to document the impact of this condition and are described briefly in this review. Outcome measures have, until recently, focused on objective data; however, from the patient's viewpoint, subjective psychosocial measures may be a better reflection of the success ofa treatment intervention. For a variety of reasons, the majority of affected persons do not seek help. If the full benefit of treatment options is to be realized, the health care provider actively should seek a history of incontinence in patients who may be ashamed or embarrassed.
authors.affiliation: Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, Division of Geriatric Medicine, 1402 S. Grand Boulevard, Room M238, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA.
authors.forename: Ramzi R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Hajjar
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy