Urinary incontinence: General ideas

Last updated: March 6, 2024

Urinary incontinence or involuntary urine leaking is our topic, and we are going to discuss about it today. I need to tell you that, this issue is not a life-threatening problem, but it was severity affect the quality of life if someone who experienced. This embarrassing symptom occurs more often as people get older. The prevalence of this disease is unlikely to be reported but it’s been estimated around more than 400 million people who had been suffering urinary incontinence worldwide. 2 times suffering will more often in female if compare to the male patients in this condition.

The etiology of Urinary incontinence can be varied among gender

Risk factors in female
1. History of pregnancy
2. Number of childbirths
3. Diabetes Mellitus
4. Morbid obesity

History of pregnancy, especially multiple pregnancies reported more in Urinary incontinence

Obesity plays major role in female incontinence. Loss weight will significantly improve the symptom.

Risk factor in male
1. History of prostate surgery

History of prostate surgery is an important clue for male incontinence.

There are 4 major types of urinary incontinence

Stress incontinence
- Urine leaking aggravated by an increasing intra-abdominal pressure for example, coughing, sneezing or exertion.
- More common in female
- Up to 45% in women with 30 years old up
Urge incontinence
- Urine leaking accompanied with an urging urination; for example, you have a sudden, intense urge to urinate, but you cannot hold it between trips to toilet and all sudden leaking.
- More common in elderly male
- Up to 42% in men with 75 years old up

Inability to hold urine is mostly seen in Male incontinence.

Mixed incontinence
- Urine leaking in the combination between Stress and Urge incontinence
Overflow incontinence
- Urine leaking which causes from distended bladder
- Neurogenic-related disease for example, spinal cord injury, diabetes mellitus
- Obstruction-related disease for example, enlarged prostate disease, pelvic mass

When patient come to see me with a urinary incontinence problem, I will start very carefully with a thorough history and physical exam. While each type of urinary incontinence is different in management, so the tailored-made treatment will be designed individually. As I mentioned earlier that this problem is affecting your quality of life, it’s importing to seek medical advice. Do you like to live your life happier without urinary incontinence?

Any questions, you can feel free to discuss with me.

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Medically written & reviewed by: Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone (Dr. Pom) — Board-Certified Urologist, Bangkok Hospital Headquarters. International Fellow: Baylor College of Medicine (USA) · Juntendo University (Japan) · Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (Taiwan).

Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone

Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone (Dr. Pom) is a board-certified urologist at Bangkok Hospital Headquarters, specializing in Men’s Health, Robotic Surgery (Da Vinci System), and Kidney Stone treatment. He has completed international fellowships at Baylor College of Medicine (USA), Juntendo University Hospital (Japan), and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (Taiwan). All medical content on this site is written and reviewed by Dr. Soarawee based on his clinical experience and international training.