Review article

Male Incontinence: From Shame to Treatment

Ivan Velat

Abstract

Urinary incontinence (UI) is defined as the unintentional leakage of urine, and represents a significant global socioeconomic and hygienic problem. The prevalence of UI in men varies from 1-39% yet is still generally lower than in women. The etiology of UI is also multifactorial and occurs as a result of urological and non-urological factors or the combination of both. In addition to the above, UI is a grave psychological burden for the patient himself. Given that UI affects not only patients and their families, government healthcare systems, the economy and society as a whole, the European Association of Urology launched the Urge to Act campaign, to raise awareness for the problem of UI in society and a more active approach to prevention and treatment. UI also poses a significant economic problem, with total costs reaching 69.1 billion euros for the European Union in 2023. Given the increasing elderly population, it is of key importance that all healthcare professionals are aware of the complexity of UI in men and actively partake in its detection and treatment.

Keywords

urinary incontinence, stress urinary incontinence, urge urinary incontinence, post-radical-prostatectomy urinary incontinence, overactive bladder syndrome

Hrčak ID:

345159

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/345159

Publication date:

26.2.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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