Diagnosis
of urinary incontinence

Incontinence does not just happen, and there are no incontinent people in whom it would be pointless to ask the question "Why?", because until the cause of urinary incontinence has been established, the treatment and nursing procedures may be unsuccessful.

The diagnosis is made by a doctor, and the correct person to talk to about it is your general practitioner. However, the person affected, the relatives caring for him or her, and the nursing staff can also contribute much to pinpointing the cause through their own or third-party observations, passed on to the doctor.

The diagnostic procedure consists of several stages:

• Patient interview (= anamnesis); this also includes the patient's own observations and patient nursing records
• General physical examination (basic diagnosis)
• If necessary, more extensive specialized examinations (special diagnosis)

Most of the examinations required are not usually very stressful for the person affected, which makes them feasible even in elderly people.