Duloxetine eases stress urinary incontinence

Women with stress urinary incontinence were randomly assigned to placebo (n = 1380) or duloxetine 40 mg twice daily (n = 1378) for 6 weeks. Those who completed this phase of the study were then entered into an extended study which had a minimum duration of 6 weeks.

The study was carried out in 342 study centres in 16 European countries.

The decrease in incontinence episodes was significantly greater with duloxetine treatment compared to placebo. Those taking the drug also experience an improvement in quality of life. Side effects were significantly more common with duloxetine (48.3%) than the placebo (33.3%).

2290 patients continued treatment after the initial six weeks but 21.5% discontinued it because of an adverse event. The researchers suggest that those who respond best to treatment are more likely to remain on duloxetine, while patients who respond poorly are more likely to discontinue the drug over time.

Duloxetine, an inhibitor of serotonin and noradrenaline re-uptake is licensed for the treatment of moderate to severe stress incontinence in women.

Have your say

You must sign in to make a comment.