Resumo

MARTINEZ SAURA, F.; FOUZ LOPEZ, C.; GIL DIAZ, P.  e  TELLEZ MARTINEZ-FORNES, M.. Urinary incontinence: a Primary Health Care approach. Medifam [online]. 2001, vol.11, n.2, pp.25-40. ISSN 1131-5768.

Urinary incontinence had been defined like a sympton, but actually it is an important health problem because it has influence in quality of life of people, and its economic impact is high. The prevalence of urinary incontinence is difficult to determine because people that suffer from this problem do not consult for it, specially due to un-knowledgement or because they learn to live with urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence is not a problem that has no treatment. It depends on causes, because there are transitory causes of incontinence that disappear when the first problem is treated and healed. There are also established types of incontinence that need to be studied and have specific treatment. Some of these treatments can be prescribed and supervised by the primary care physician. Sometimes the patient must be sent to the specialist to study his problem, once his characteristic, like clinic situation, funcionality and possibilities of improvement, have been revised. 

Palavras-chave : Urinary incontinence; Primary Health Care.