A total of 110 women who had reported urinary incontinence to their general 
practitioners were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Treatment 
consisted of pelvic floor exercises in the case of stress incontinence and 
bladder training in the case of urge incontinence. The results were measured 
after 3 and 12 months by a research assistant on the basis of a constructed 
severity scale, an incontinence diary, and a comparison by the patients 
themselves of their previous and current conditions. After 3 months the control 
group were given the same treatment. After a further 3 and 12 months, they were 
assessed in exactly the same way as the treatment group. After 3 months about 
60% of the patients were either dry or only mildly incontinent; the mean number 
of wet episodes had gone down from 20 to 7, and 74% of the women felt improved 
or cured. These results were later corroborated by the control group. After 12 
months this successful outcome was improved slightly further. It may be 
concluded that the majority of women with incontinence can be successfully 
treated by the general practitioner. The effect of this treatment continues 
after one year.