The incidence of urinary incontinence (UI) increases with age. Mild and moderate UI have little impact on women and are easily ignored. This study reports the characteristics of non-severe UI and quality of life (QOL) in elderly women using data from a Development and Evaluation of a Senile UI Alert System study.
926 women aged ≥60 were enrolled from six subcenters across China, among whom 717 SUI patients and 209 UUI/MUI patients were grouped into Group A and Group B, respectively, according to leakage symptoms. Demographic and clinical data, pelvic organ prolapse quantification and pelvic floor muscle strength measurement (PFMS) were collected from participants, followed by evaluation of QOL and sexual life.
The major type of UI in community women was SUI (77.4%); MUI and UUI accounted for 20.63% and 1.94%, respectively. Weakened PFMS was detected in 78.2% of the participants. Group B was significantly higher in terms of median age, weight, BMI, waist circumference and menopausal years, and had the greater UI severity and impact on QOL, as well as less active sex live than group A (p < 0.05).
SUI distributes dominantly in elderly community women, but UUI/MUI has greater impact on QOL and is related to a less active sex life, which requires more attention from medical staff.
International journal of environmental research and public health. 2022 May 05*** epublish ***
Di Zhang, Shiyan Wang, Lei Gao, Yuanyuan Jia, Haibo Wang, Xiuli Sun, Jianliu Wang
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University People's Hospital, No. 11, Xi-Zhi-Men South Street, Xi Cheng District, Beijing 100044, China., Clinical Research Institute, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.