%0 Journal Article %T Queixa de perda urin¨˘ria: um problema silente pelas mulheres %A Menezes %A Giselle Maria Duarte %A Pinto %A Francisco Jos¨¦ Maia %A Silva %A Francisca Alexandra Ara¨˛jo da %A Castro %A Maria Eurid¨¦a de %A Medeiros %A Carlos Robson Bezerra de %J Revista Ga¨˛cha de Enfermagem %D 2012 %I Scientific Electronic Library Online %R 10.1590/S1983-14472012000100014 %X this study investigates the prevalence of urinary incontinence and how it interferes in the daily life of women from a health center in the city of fortaleza, state of cear¨˘, brazil. this is a cross-sectional, analytical and quantitative study. the studied population was of 168 women who had appointments for hypertension and / or diabetes in september 2009. the data was collected through interviews and the application of the "international consultation on incontinence questionnaire." for inferential analysis, we used chi-square and fisher's exact test. women from the analysis sample (59) were: aged between 42 and 59 years (52.5%), low educational level (55.9%), without a partner (57.6%), retired (50.8%), nonsmokers (81.4%) and overweight (71.2%). only the low educational level was associated with incontinence. prevalence was of 61.0%. for 55,5% of incontinents, losing urine intervenes in a grave or very grave way with their daily life. the urinary loss occurred while coughing or sneezing (72.2%) and before arriving at the bathroom (61.1%). the urinary incontinence presented a high prevalence, intervening negatively with these women's lifes. %K urinary incontinence %K family health program %K public health. %U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1983-14472012000100014&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en