Improving Care for Women With Urinary Incontinence in Primary Care

Urinary incontinence (UI) is highly prevalent in primary care, disproportionately impacts women, and is associated with poor quality of life related to significant psychological, physical, social, and financial burdens. UI places significant economic burden on the United States health care system. Cost-effective, first-line UI treatments improve continence and can be successfully offered in primary care. Unfortunately, UI is largely untreated, in part because health care providers fail to inquire about involuntary urine leakage and are uncomfortable with UI diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this article is to familiarize clinicians with UI risk factors and effective nonpharmacologic management strategies for primary care.