Incontinence has different meanings for different people.

This study used a multi-method approach to examine older patients' attitudes to, and feelings about, their incontinence. The results indicate that patients did not necessarily accept incontinence as a normal aspect of the ageing process and that they used various strategies to cope with incontinence. Some patients found incontinence too stressful to discuss but most welcomed health professionals' initiation of discussion and saw such consultation as contributing to the effectiveness of continence management. Further study is needed to identify the reasons why some patients who have little professional assistance have positive attitudes to their incontinence and others do not.