OBJECTIVES The frequency of side effects in the treatment with anticholinergic drugs are well described in a number of previous studies. However, little is known about the impact of side effects on therapy discontinuation. The aim of the present study was to estimate the frequency of glaucoma in association with urinary incontinence therapy begin and the impact of glaucoma diagnosis on the therapy discontinuation based on real life data. METHODS Data from Disease Analyzer database including 988 general, 95 urologist and 203 gynecologist practices were used. 26,834 patients (17,125 female and 9,709 male) were identified to have received a first-time anticholinergic prescription of UI, namely darifenacin, fesoterodine, oxybutynin, propiverine, solifenacin, tolterodine or trospium. Co-variates studied included demographic data, concomitant diagnoses and potential drug-induced side-effects. Glaucoma (H40) was defined as strict indication for the use of anticholinergic drugs. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to estimate the relationship between non-persistence and the diagnosis of glaucoma for up to 36 months. RESULTS The proportion of patients that were diagnosed with glaucoma during the time of treatment was very similar in each of the study substances. 32 - 38 % of patients received a referral to an ophthalmologist and 0.3 - 1.2 % of patients were first time diagnosed with glaucoma. Not surprisingly, there was a highly increased risk for treatment discontinuation in patients having glaucoma (HR: 1.46; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Overall, the potential side effects including the aggravation of diagnosed glaucoma that were registered in the database were rarer than in clinical trials; most likely they were under-reported due to the nature of the registry. However, there was a significant impact of glaucoma on therapy discontinuation. This finding should be taken into account in clinical practice for the use of anticholinergic drugs in patients suffering from glaucoma.