Nonsurgical management of urinary incontinence in women: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians

Abstract

Description: The American College of Physicians (ACP) developed this guideline to present the evidence and provide clinical recommendations on the nonsurgical management of urinary incontinence (UI) in women.

Methods: This guideline is based on published English-language literature on nonsurgical management of UI in women from 1990 through December 2013 that was identified using MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Scirus, and Google Scholar. The outcomes evaluated for this guideline include continence, improvement in UI, quality of life, adverse effects, and discontinuation due to adverse effects. It grades the evidence and recommendations by using ACP's guideline grading system. The target audience is all clinicians, and the target patient population is all women with UI.

Recommendation 1: ACP recommends first-line treatment with pelvic floor muscle training in women with stress UI. (Grade: strong recommendation, high-quality evidence).

Recommendation 2: ACP recommends bladder training in women with urgency UI. (Grade: strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence).

Recommendation 3: ACP recommends pelvic floor muscle training with bladder training in women with mixed UI. (Grade: strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence).

Recommendation 4: ACP recommends against treatment with systemic pharmacologic therapy for stress UI. (Grade: strong recommendation, low-quality evidence).

Recommendation 5: ACP recommends pharmacologic treatment in women with urgency UI if bladder training was unsuccessful. Clinicians should base the choice of pharmacologic agents on tolerability, adverse effect profile, ease of use, and cost of medication. (Grade: strong recommendation, high-quality evidence).

Recommendation 6: ACP recommends weight loss and exercise for obese women with UI. (Grade: strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence).