Improvement of urge- and mixed-type incontinence after acupuncture treatment among elderly women - a pilot study

The aim of this study was to investigate if sensory stimulation in the form of manual acupuncture could influence urge- or mixed-type incontinence amo ng elderly women who were not satisfactorily relieved by standard pharmacol ogical and non-pharmacological treatments given at a specialised incontinen ce unit. The study is an open clinical follow-up study. The study included 15 elderly women who were treated with manual acupuncture 12 times. Both su bjective scorings and objective measurements in the form of leakage in gram s (48 h Inco-test) were used. Evaluations were performed at discharge and 1 and 3 months thereafter. Almost all outcome measurements were significantl y improved even at follow-up 3 months after the last treatment. Global scor ings showed that 12 of the 15 women considered themselves improved even at the follow-up 3 month after treatments were completed. The possible mechani sms of action are discussed, as is the way to perform more studies in this field. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.