Society guideline links: Urinary incontinence in adults

Introduction — 

This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

International

●International Continence Society (ICS): Current standardisations

●International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO): Recommendations – Use of midurethral slings for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (2023)

●Sixth International Consultation on Incontinence: Recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and faecal incontinence (2017)

●International Urogynecological Association (IUGA): Guidelines for research and clinical practice on the evaluation and outcome measures in the treatment of female urinary stress incontinence (2008)

Canada

●Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR): Genitourinary guideline (updated 2024)

●Canadian Urological Association (CUA): Guideline – Female stress urinary incontinence (2024)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't place, or leave in place, urinary catheters without an acceptable indication (such as critical illness, obstruction, palliative care) (updated 2024)

●Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC): Clinical practice guideline – Vaginal pessary use (2021)

●SOGC: Clinical practice guideline for conservative care of urinary incontinence in women (2020)

●SOGC: Committee opinion – Mid-urethral slings for stress urinary incontinence (2019)

●SOGC: Clinical practice guideline for intravaginal laser for genitourinary syndrome of menopause and stress urinary incontinence (2018)

●SOGC: Guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of recurrent urinary incontinence following pelvic floor surgery (2017)

●CUA: Guidelines for adult urinary incontinence collaborative consensus document, update (2012)

United States

●American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee opinion on the evaluation of uncomplicated stress urinary incontinence in women before surgical treatment (2014, reaffirmed 2024)

●American Urological Association (AUA)/Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons (GURS)/Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU): Guideline on incontinence after prostate treatment (2019, amended 2024)

●AUA/SUFU: Guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic overactive bladder (2024)

●American Physical Therapy Association (APTA): Clinical practice guideline for rehabilitation interventions for urgency urinary incontinence, urinary urgency, and/or urinary frequency in adult women (2023)

●AUA/SUFU: Guideline on surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) (2017, amended 2023)

●American College of Radiology (ACR): Appropriateness criteria for pelvic floor dysfunction in females (revised 2021)

●AUA/SUFU: Guideline on adult neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (2021)

●AUGS: Clinical consensus statement – Association of anticholinergic medication use and cognition in women with overactive bladder (2017, updated 2020, published 2021)

●ACOG: Practice bulletin on urinary incontinence in women (2015)

Europe

●European Association of Urology (EAU): Guidelines on management of non-neurogenic female lower urinary tract symptoms (2024)

●EUA: Guidelines on non-neurogenic male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) (2024)

●European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG): Position statement on the use of laser vaginal devices for treatment of genitourinary syndrome of menopause, vaginal laxity, pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence (2024)

●European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS): Clinical guide for management of urinary incontinence in postmenopausal women (2021)

●European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM): Position statements on laser-based devices for female genitourinary indications (2020)

●ESSM: Position statements on radiofrequency-based devices for female genito-urinary indications (2020)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Clinical guideline on urinary incontinence in neurological disease – Assessment and management (2012, updated 2023)

●NICE: Interventional procedures guidance on transcutaneous electrical neuromuscular stimulation for urinary incontinence (2022)

●NICE: Interventional procedures guidance on transvaginal laser therapy for stress urinary incontinence (2021)

●NICE: Quality standard on urinary incontinence in women (2015, updated 2021)

●NICE: Guideline on urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women – Management (2019)

●NICE: Clinical guideline on lower urinary tract symptoms in men – Management (2010, updated 2015)

●NICE: Quality standard on lower urinary tract symptoms in men (2013)

Australia–New Zealand

●Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP): Aged Care Clinical Guide (Silver Book, Part A), 5th edition – Urinary incontinence (revised 2019)

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Don't use urinary catheters to manage urinary incontinence unless all other appropriate options have proved to be ineffective or to prevent wound infection or skin breakdown (2016)

Japan

●[In Japanese] Japanese Continence Society (JCS): Guidelines

●[In Japanese] Japanese Society of Sarcopenia and Frailty (JSSF) and National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (NCGG): Guidelines for lower urinary tract dysfunction in elderly people with frailty and cognitive decline (2021)

●[In Japanese] Japan Urological Association (JUA) and JCS: Clinical practice guidelines on female lower urinary tract symptoms, 2nd edition (2019)

●[In Japanese] JUA: Guidelines for the treatment of male lower urinary tract symptoms and benign prostatic hyperplasia (2017)