Female patients need more privacy for micturition and are, therefore, more prone to suppress the normal micturition reflex. Due to postponed micturition, their bladders are usually full and during stress conditions urinary incontinence does occur. In 20 patients who had functional stress incontinence, the urologic and urodynamic evaluation was performed. When no major structural deformities were found, the timed voiding was taught to the patients. In 79 per cent of patients the urinary incontinence was cured by timed voiding only. Some of the patients who had positive urinary cultures became sterile following the new voiding patterns. The possible neurophysiologic mechanisms of timed voiding are discussed.