Prevalence of urinary incontinence and associated risk factors in postmenopausal woman

ABSTRACT

To determine the prevalence of stress, urge [detrusor overactivity], and mixed urinary incontinence and associated risk factors in postmenopausal women, A cross sectional study was conducted in Al-Azhar university hospitals [El-Hussein and Bab-El sharia hospitals], Cairo, Egypt. The study recruited 270 postmenopausal women attending the gynecologic clinics in the two studied hospitals, from the 1[st] of January 2006 through July 2008. Before enrollment, a verbal consent to participate was taken from the patients and pre-designed questionnaires on prevalence and type of incontinence were completed. The questionnaire data included factors potentially associated with incontinence including demographics, reproductive and medical histories, height, weight, and waist-to-hip circumference ratio. Multivariate logistic models to determine independent associations between those factors and weekly incontinence by type were performed. Out of the studied 270 patients, 152 [56%] had weekly incontinence. The mean [ +/- standard deviation [SD] age of all patients was 57 +/- 7 years. In multivariate analyses, the prevalence of weekly stress urinary incontinence was higher in women with higher body-mass index [BMI] [OR= 1.1 per 5 units increase, 95% CI 1.0-1.3], and higher waist-to-hip ratio [OR 1.2 per 0.1 unit increase, 95% CI=1.0-1.4]. The prevalence of weekly urge incontinence was higher in older women [OR=1.2 per 5 years, 95% CI=1.1-1.3], and increased one half times in diabetic women [OR=1.5, 95% CI=1.1-2.0], and two times in women who had reported two or more urinary tract infections in the prior year [OR=2.0, 95% CI=1.1-3.6]. Stress and urge [detrusor overactivity] incontinence are common in postmenopausal women and have different risk factors, suggesting that approaches to risk-factor modification and prevention also might differ and should be specific to types of incontinence