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Psychological Improvements Associated With Behavioral and Drug Treatment of Urge Incontinence in Older Women

^a School of Medicine and Center for Aging, University of Alabama at Birmingham
^b School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Center for Aging, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Kathryn L. Burgio, Liberty National Building, Suite 1081, 2001 Third Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233-2114.

Decision Editor: Toni C. Antonucci, PhD

The purpose of this study was to explore changes in psychological distress associated with behavioral treatment and drug treatment for urge incontinence in community-dwelling older women. Participants were 197 ambulatory, nondemented women (aged 55 years or older) with persistent urge urinary incontinence. Participants were patients in a randomized clinical trial comparing biofeedback-assisted behavioral treatment, drug treatment with oxybutynin chloride, and a placebo-control condition. Psychological distress was measured before and after treatment using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R). Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance showed that the two treatment groups and the control group had similar significant improvements on the nine subscales and the global severity index. Analysis of individual SCL-90-R subscale scores revealed trends suggesting that behavioral treatment tended to produce the largest improvements. The reductions of distress were not correlated consistently with reduction of incontinence. The results of this study showed that psychological distress was significantly reduced after treatment, regardless of the type of treatment.