ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies are dependent on simple and valid questions to assess the prevalence and type of urinary incontinence. OBJECTIVE: To examine the reproducibility and validity of two standardized questions seeking to identify stress and urge incontinence among elderly women. METHODS: A random sample of 421 women 75 years or older living in the center of Odense, Denmark, were invited to participate, and 223 (53%) accepted a first interview in their home. A sample of 154 women were selected for a second interview with the same questions [accepted by 144 (94%)]. The second visit also included a long open interview about incontinence and was followed by a prospective registration of leakages. RESULTS: In the first interview 39% (95% confidence interval (CI) 34-47%) of the elderly women reported incontinence. The reliability of the questions was acceptable [kappa of 0.81 (95% CI 0.34-0.89)] with percent agreement of 90% (95% CI 84-95%) between first and second interviews for all incontinence (stress and/or urge). When the open interview was used as a "gold standard," the questions showed acceptable validity: a sensitivity of 0.91 (95% CI 0.86-0.96) and a specificity of 0.86 (95% CI 0.80-0.92) for all incontinence. CONCLUSION: Standardized questions about incontinence give reproducible answers and produce information that is comparable to a long open interview.
