Incontinence during intercourse: myths unravelled: reply to Serati et al.

Abstract

Dear Editor, We would like to thank Dr Serati and colleagues for their interest in our article [1]. Regarding the prevalence of coital incontinence (CI), Dr Serati references his own paper [2], a review article which failed to look at data from several other studies that quote a much higher prevalence, i.e. Vierhout et al. [3] (34 %), Bo et al. [4] (33 %) and Clark et al. [5] (56 %), to mention but a few. Dr Serati goes on to describe a study by Kahn et al. [6]. Unfortunately the validity of any study which relies on a sample size of 3 is questionable. The subsequent comparison with their own study [7] is of greater significance. Their study may contradict the findings of ours, but the sample size was only one third that in our study, which may explain the discrepancy. Moreover, a study by El Azab et al. [8] demonstrated findings identical to those in our own series. We therefore conclude, as stated in our paper, that “The exact mechanism of coital incontinence remains unclear” and “requires further research”. A systematic review might be better placed to answer this question. We do not feel we have omitted any part of the available evidence, but rather have striven to present the findings of our own study without bias and prejudice in an attempt to unravel the mystery of CI.