Incontinence bag. Gloved hands clean the tap on a urinary incontinence bag that is strapped to an elderly woman's leg. The gloved hands belong to a nurse who will replace the night incontinence bag with a day bag. Incontinence is an uncontrollable, involuntary passing of urine. The condition often affects the elderly because the efficiency of the sphincter muscles surrounding the urethra declines with age. As here, elderly women are affected more often by incontinence than men. An incontinence bag acts to collect the urine via a catheter and the bag takes on the role of a false bladder. This method is used when normal bladder function cannot be restored.