November is Bladder Health Month—a great time to focus on connecting, educating and empowering people to take control of their bladder health.

Each day, millions of Americans struggle with the impacts of bladder conditions and diseases that can impact an individual’s health and quality of life, which result in significant health costs (estimated to be more than $70 billion per year.*) Bladder control problems—or incontinence—can be very frustrating and embarrassing. In addition to the physical problems it can cause, severe incontinence can lead to social isolation and depression. The good news is that, with therapy, most people with stress or urge incontinence improve their symptoms, which may also improve their overall quality of life.

Unfortunately, most people are not talking to their doctors about their bladder health symptoms because they are too embarrassed. Enter the Urinary Incontinence (UI) Health Risk Assessment! The UI HRA estimates users’ type and severity of urinary incontinence. It also quantifies the impact urine leakage has on one’s quality of life and identifies risk factors for urine leakage. Finally, the profiler provides feedback on those risk factors that can be controlled, such as smoking and weight.

*Urology Care Foundation