Stress Urinary Incontinence: Prevention, Management, and Provider Education
Stress Urinary Incontinence: Prevention, Management, and Provider Education
The costs of urinary incontinence (UI) are financially and socially substantial to those who are living with its effects. When looking at the dramatic costs associated with UI and associated pelvic floor disorders, prevention of these disorders or management at the earliest possible level is indicated. Determining which modifiable factors cause UI and pelvic floor disorders is complicated. Listening to patients in an effort to improve their quality of life may be a reasonable starting point. Educating future health care providers to approach these topics with sensitivity will positively impact the care patients receive.
Urinary incontinence (UI) can be a financial and social burden to women who suffer from its effects. The most burdensome costs are sometimes those that are hardest to quantify, such as financial burdens from personal hygiene care, or the mental stress and social isolation that some women feel. There are many contributory factors to the development of UI, including parity, genetics, aging, and menopause. Specifically, stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is often related to the myriad of changes that occur to the pelvic floor (PF) with pregnancy and childbirth.
A more cost-effective and appropriate manner of addressing the growing problem of UI may be to identify factors in individual women that could be explored before problems from UI arise. If practitioners were aware of effective treatments for women in the primary stage of UI development, it may be possible to reduce the number of women who need more aggressive treatments, such as surgical correction. Earlier intervention may also help reduce the social costs to women with UI who live in fear, embarrassment, and ultimately, isolation from others.
The costs of urinary incontinence (UI) are financially and socially substantial to those who are living with its effects. When looking at the dramatic costs associated with UI and associated pelvic floor disorders, prevention of these disorders or management at the earliest possible level is indicated. Determining which modifiable factors cause UI and pelvic floor disorders is complicated. Listening to patients in an effort to improve their quality of life may be a reasonable starting point. Educating future health care providers to approach these topics with sensitivity will positively impact the care patients receive.
Urinary incontinence (UI) can be a financial and social burden to women who suffer from its effects. The most burdensome costs are sometimes those that are hardest to quantify, such as financial burdens from personal hygiene care, or the mental stress and social isolation that some women feel. There are many contributory factors to the development of UI, including parity, genetics, aging, and menopause. Specifically, stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is often related to the myriad of changes that occur to the pelvic floor (PF) with pregnancy and childbirth.
A more cost-effective and appropriate manner of addressing the growing problem of UI may be to identify factors in individual women that could be explored before problems from UI arise. If practitioners were aware of effective treatments for women in the primary stage of UI development, it may be possible to reduce the number of women who need more aggressive treatments, such as surgical correction. Earlier intervention may also help reduce the social costs to women with UI who live in fear, embarrassment, and ultimately, isolation from others.
