Causes and treatment of urge incontinence in women

As comorbidities continue to rise and we continue to live with COVID-19, recent studies have explored the potential increased susceptibility and fatality rates from COVID-19 of people living with obesity or neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease (Artusi et al, 2021; Zhou et al, 2021). However, living with such conditions can also increase a person's risk of other less serious conditions that can nonetheless affect their daily life and, importantly, their quality of life.

One such example is urge incontinence, also known as the ‘overactive bladder’. The British Medical Journal (BMJ, 2020) defines urge incontinence as ‘involuntary, spontaneous urine loss that is associated with an uncontrollable sense of urgency.’ It is caused by overly active or irritated bladder muscles, with the most common symptom being the frequent and sudden urge to urinate, with occasional leakage of urine. Mixed incontinence can occur when there is muscle weakness and an uncontrollable need to void the bladder.