The burden of urinary incontinence in late pregnancy: Antenatal clinic experience in a tertiary hospital in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Urinary incontinence is an under-diagnosed and underreported problem especially among women living in developing countries. Pregnancy is one of the most consistent risk factors in the development of urinary incontinence in women with prevalence increasing with gestational age; being more marked in the late second and third trimester resulting in detrimental effects on the quality of life women live. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of urinary incontinence in late pregnancy and help identify women at risk who would benefit from interventions during and after pregnancy. Patients and Method: This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted to determine the prevalence of urinary incontinence in late pregnancy using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Respondents were recruited from the antenatal clinic of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. The result was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: The prevalence of urinary incontinence was found to be 26.20% with the majority of the respondents having symptoms in keeping with stress urinary incontinence (57.2%) while 34.1% had urgency urinary incontinence and 8.6% had mixed urinary incontinence. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of urinary incontinence in pregnancy in our environment with every 1 in 5 women being affected. The antenatal period is an opportunity to identify such patients so as to ensure continuity of care and effective referral in order to improve outcome in women at risk.