Urinary and faecal incontinence
Transient versus established incontinence in older people, urge, stress, overflow and functional types, bladder diaries and post-void residuals, mirabegron over anticholinergics, the donepezil prescribing cascade, and faecal impaction with overflow.
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Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Incontinence is common, under-reported and not a normal part of ageing. The Continence Foundation of Australia estimates over a third of Australians aged 15 and over have some bladder or bowel leakage, with higher rates in older people and in residential care.
- Sort it in two steps: transient (reversible, often in hospital) or established, then the type: urge, stress, mixed, overflow or functional.
- Measure two things before prescribing: a 3-day bladder diary and a post-void residual (PVR).
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Sources
- Continence Foundation of Australia (National Continence Helpline and health professional resources)AU/NZContinence Foundation of Australia
- Incontinence, 7th edition (7th International Consultation on Incontinence)International Continence Society and International Consultation on Urological Diseases, 2023
- Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management (NG123)National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2019
- Pelvic floor muscle training versus no treatment, or inactive control treatments, for urinary incontinence in women (Dumoulin C et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2018;10:CD005654)Cochrane Library, 2018
- Efficacy, safety, and tolerability of mirabegron in patients aged 65 years or older with overactive bladder wet: a phase IV, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study (PILLAR) (Wagg A et al. Eur Urol 2020;77:211-20)European Urology, 2020
- Anticholinergic drug exposure and the risk of dementia: a nested case-control study (Coupland CAC et al. JAMA Intern Med 2019;179:1084-93)JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019
- A prescribing cascade involving cholinesterase inhibitors and anticholinergic drugs (Gill SS et al. Arch Intern Med 2005;165:808-13)Archives of Internal Medicine, 2005
- PBS Schedule, November 2026 (oxybutynin restricted listing; no mirabegron, solifenacin or trospium items)AU/NZAustralian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 1 November 2026 (PBS API, accessed 13 November 2026)
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
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