Urinary incontinence, the hidden health problem of Cretan women: Report from a primary care survey in Greece

Objective: The prevalence of urine leakage and care-seeking rates: of women 35-75 years of age who visited GPs in two rural areas of Crete were invest igated. Participants: All the women who visited their family physician in two prima ry care units during the period of August to November 1997 (N = 251) were a sked if they had experienced symptoms of involuntary urine leakage. A set o f questions was addressed to the women who replied positively. Results: Sixty-nine of the 251 women (27.5%) reported symptoms of involunta ry urine leakage, and among the incontinent women 11 (15.9%) had previously contacted the health services about their problem. Only six out of thirty (20%) of the incontinent women who report effects on household activities, social and sexual life had contacted a physician about urinary incontinence (UI). The most common reason reported fur not consulting the physicians wa s that the symptoms were not considered serious (35 women out of 58, 60.3%) . Conclusion: This study points out the need for further awareness programs f or both women and healthcare professionals to he set up in countries like G reece, in which a low care-seeking rate of incontinent women has been repor ted.