 MethodsDesign A 13-question self-administered questionnaire was developed and face validity tested by 2 of the authors KH, EH. The anonymous questionnaire contained simple questions on gender and age and then asked yesno questions on whether test persons knew people with UI, or suspected other people to be incontinent, if they would address this issue with the suspected person, and if they thought that UI was a taboo issue in the society. On a scale from 0 - 10 they were then asked to grade the amount of embarrassment and anxiety if they themselves were incontinent, compared to depression or cancer. A few questions on knowledge of the condition of UI and to whom test persons would turn to in case of UI concluded the short questionnaire, which took about 5 minutes to fill in. A convenience sample of 150 test persons from waiting areas of a teaching hospital and in private practices of general practitioners in Austria agreed to take part in the study, with an additional 10 persons 6.2 declining after being informed about the subject. Data were analysed with the SPSS 10.0.5 software package using the U-test, Chi-square-test, Yates-correction, Fishers exact test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test where appropriate. 