Urinary Incontinence in Older Women: A Syndrome-Based Approach to Addressing Late Life Heterogeneity.

Urinary incontinence is a prevalent pelvic floor disorder among women of all ages. However, in many older women, especially those who have multiple chronic conditions it may be a geriatric syndrome because of its shared characteristics of physical function impairments, cognitive decline, and mobility disability. The geriatric incontinence syndrome may represent a poorly characterized phenotype of UI among older women which in many ways reflects unhealthy aging. In this article, we explore the evidence behind these concepts together with potentiel impact on the diagnosis and management of UI in this group.