Urinary incontinence in acute psychosis.

A prospective two year study of consecutive admissions (n=984) to a psychiatry ward revealed that the incidence of temporary urinary incontinence in psychiatric patients without delirium or dementia was 1.63% (n=l6). When compared with controls (n=64) the incontinent patients were more often psychotic, gave a history of childhood enuresis and a past history of temporary incontinence during psychosis. Compared with psychotic controls (n=26), incontinent patients (n=16) had been exposed to a greater variety of treatments and were hospitalized for longer periods.