Incontinence: enhancing care in women's prisons

There is no evidence on the prevalence of urinary and faecal incontinence symptoms in women prisoners.

To explore the extent and management of bladder and bowel symptoms to inform prison health services and prison nursing practice.

An anonymous self-report questionnaire tailored to low levels of English literacy, and administered in one women's prison.

Women prisons have a higher reported prevalence of urinary and faecal incontinence, constipation and nocturnal enuresis than community populations; this is an unrecognised health problem.

Prison primary care nurses should consider introducing sensitive but direct questions on bladder and bowel symptoms into admission assessment processes.