Far from the freedom and carefree lifestyle that those years are supposed to provide, incontinence can rob our seniors of their mobility, their autonomy and their feeling of well being. Incontinence, or fear of urinary leakage, even if it actually has not occurred, is debilitating and humiliating. The problem is associated with aging, although it should not be considered a natural part of that process. In terms of societal cost, Dr. The-Wei Hu of the University of California at Berkeley has developed the most widely quoted economic model on incontinence. Looking at people 65 years and older, he estimated that the direct costs were 16 billion for this condition, and 28 billion of indirect costs were added to this.
Urinary incontinence is a valid predictor of heavy rural nursing home use.
Because of fewer community-based services in these settings, older family members may be prematurely institutionalized when their incontinence precludes them being cared for in the home or extended living situation. We know that doctors are currently under trained to take care of this problem. Only recently has the diagnosis and treatment of this condition been included in the curriculum and tested for on certification exams in internal medicine. Because incontinence isn't life threatening, it often is overlooked in assessing patient's health, in spite of the far reaching consequences of its diagnosis. Both patients and physicians need to be proactive in assessing the risk for incontinence and treating the problem when it is present.