Incidence and remission of urinary incontinence in middle-aged women

Abstract

The objective of the study was to describe changes in urinary incontinence in middle-aged women. A prospective analysis of 64,650 women aged 36-55 years in the Nurses' Health Study II. Participants reported urine leaking in 2001 and 2003. Two-year incidence and remission proportions were estimated. The 2-year incidence of incontinence was 13.7%. Incidence generally increased through age 50 years and then declined slightly in older women. Among women with incident incontinence at least weekly, the incidence of stress incontinence increased through age 50 years (2-year incidence 1.7%), and the incidence of urge incontinence was stable across age groups (2-year incidence 0.4%). Also, a minority (38%) mentioned leaking to their physician. Complete remission of symptoms occurred in 13.9% of women with incontinence at baseline. We found that incontinence occurs frequently in middle-aged women. Yet few women mentioned incontinence to their physicians; thus, it may be important to initiate conversations about urinary symptoms even among younger patients.