Pharmacologic causes of female incontinence

The etiology of female urinary incontinence is complex and multifactorial. Many medications have adverse effects on the lower urinary tract, including the promotion of incontinence in certain women. Medications may cause incontinence through three main mechanisms: decreased intraurethral pressure, increased intravesical pressure, and indirect effects on the lower urinary tract. Careful adjustments of a patient's medications based on a knowledge of pharmacologic mechanisms of action may restore continence in some women.