Feature Story

Experts seek better diagnosis and treatment for women's urinary incontinence and chronic pelvic pain

A physician discusses treatment options with a patient.

Urinary incontinence and chronic pelvic pain can cause women to not only miss work and social events, but also avoid intimacy. Women may feel embarrassed, ashamed, and afraid. Many women suffer in silence before finding courage to seek treatment.
Now women and their clinicians can get help in their medical decisions from two reports by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). These comparative effectiveness reviews, based on the latest evidence, compare the effectiveness of diagnostic and treatment approaches to these nonreproductive conditions that disproportionally affect women.
Although both conditions are common in women, urinary incontinence is an easily understood condition that is relatively simple to diagnose and has multiple treatment options. In contrast, chronic pelvic pain or CPP can be tough to treat.
Research Activities spoke with researchers and clinicians about the scope of each problem, the research, and opportunities for new research.