Warner J P, Harvey C A, Barnes T R
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK.
Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 1994 Sep;9(3):207-9. doi: 10.1097/00004850-199409000-00010.
Urinary incontinence may occur in patients with severe mental illness. Psychosis and neuroleptic medication have both been implicated, but there has been a lack of systematic evaluation of the precise relationship between these phenomena. Incontinence has been recognized as a complication of clozapine treatment and we examined this in 16 consecutively treated patients. Thirteen were established on therapeutic doses, one of whom was excluded from further study due to pre-existing incontinence. Retrospective assessment revealed that nocturnal incontinence was experienced by five of the remaining 12 patients, occurring in the first 3 months of treatment and resolving spontaneously in all cases. Incontinence was documented in the case notes in only one of the five cases and there was a tendency for affected patients to be embarrassed and reluctant to report it to staff. Specific enquiry may be necessary to elicit this phenomenon and incontinence should be considered as a possible factor in poor compliance with clozapine.
