Medical Management of Urinary Incontinence in Women

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a prevalent condition in US women, and its prevalence increases with age. UI is managed with both medical and surgical options, and all health care providers who treat UI should be familiar with the outcome evidence for chosen therapies. Diet, weight loss, fluid restriction, pelvic floor exercise, and pelvic floor physical therapy demonstrate varying levels of benefit in published trials. Medications offer no significant benefit for stress urinary incontinence, but are the mainstay of treatment for urinary urgency incontinence because of high rates of efficacy in numerous randomized controlled trials.