Psychiatric aspects of female incontinence

Abstract

This paper describes a psychiatric survey of 169 female patients suffering from bladder dysfunction, mainly incontinence. The patients were surveyed using the General Health Questionnaire-60 and the Weissman Paykel Social Adjustment Schedule. A random subgroup of the patients underwent a standardized structured psychiatric interview, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia — Life Time Version. In addition, the patients had urodynamic studies and padweighing tests. The results showed that 47.9% of the patients had significant psychiatric morbidity. The types of problem and the management implications are discussed.