Changes in urinary incontinence and quality of life after four yearsA population-based study of women aged 22–50 years

Abstract

Objectives – To investigate (a) the incidence and remission rates of female urinary incontinence (UI), (b) changes in type of UI and quality of life (QoL), and (c) whether professional help had been consulted regarding UI.Design – A 4-year follow-up population-based cohort study.Setting – Surahammar, Sweden, a community of 10,500 inhabitants.Subjects – All 118 incontinent and 130 continent women aged between 22 and 50 years.Main outcome measures – Changes in type of UI were measured using the Detrusor Instability Score (DIS), which was used to distinguish between the stress incontinent and the urge incontinent women. Changes in QoL were measured using the SF-36 Health Survey.Results – The mean annual incidence and remission rates of UI were the same (4%). The majority of women (83%) reported unchanged UI after 4 years and 77% of these women had stress incontinence. At follow-up, the changes in QoL scores were significantly greater in five out of eight dimensions in the persistently incontinent group compared with the persistently continent group. QoL scores did not change significantly from baseline to the 4-year follow-up within the incidence and remission groups. Three of four women with UI had not sought professional help.Conclusions – At 4-year follow-up the type of UI is fairly stable in women below 50 years of age. The QoL decreases in five dimensions, but the clinical relevance of this might be questioned. Most women with UI had not sought professional help.