Epidemiology of Urinary and Fecal Incontinence

Abstract

Urinary incontinence (UI) has been defined by the International Continence Society (ICS) as the involuntary leakage of urine [1]. This is subcategorized into different types, including stress urinary incontinence, urge(ncy) urinary incontinence, mixed urinary incontinence, nocturnal enuresis and continuous urinary incontinence. Within the context of overall urinary function, urinary incontinence is often considered to be part of the broader constellation of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Although the ICS classification of LUTS can be useful, there can be an overlap between symptomatic components, which has led to placing incontinence symptoms into a separate analytic category [2]. Another important issue in the study of urinary incontinence epidemiology is an extensive sexual gap in the published literature. The propensity of published research focuses on urinary incontinence in women, with much less emphasis regarding urinary incontinence in men. One of the reasons may be that most studies on voiding symptoms in men tend to focus on more traditional definitions of LUTS, which do not include urinary incontinence in the conceptual model. Another reason may be the higher prevalence of urinary incontinence in women than in men.