Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
Abstract

Urinary incontinence: common problem among women over 45.

Canadian Family Physician January 2005, 51 (1) 84-85;
J Graham Swanson
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Janusz Kaczorowski
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jennifer Skelly
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Murray Finkelstein
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
  1. J Graham Swanson,
  2. Janusz Kaczorowski,
  3. Jennifer Skelly and
  4. Murray Finkelstein

    Abstract

    OBJECTIVE To examine age-specific prevalence and correlates of urinary incontinence (UI) among community-dwelling women.

    DESIGN A questionnaire survey used a modified Dillman method.

    SETTING Two family practice clinics in Hamilton, Ont.

    PARTICIPANTS Questionnaires were mailed to 1082 women 45 years old and older. Ninety women were disqualified; 606 recipients responded.

    MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Self-reported prevalence of UI and potential risk factors.

    RESULTS Overall response rate was 61% (606/992); 51% (311/606; 95% confidence interval 47.3% to 55.3%) reported an episode of UI during the last month. Of the 311 women reporting UI, 35.7% perceived it as a problem, 27% had had it for less than a year, 41.9% had had it for 1 to 4 years, and 31.1% had had it for 5 years or longer. Three kinds of UI were reported: 34% (106/311) reported stress UI, 14.5% (45/311) reported urge UI, and 51.4% (160/311) reported a mixed pattern. In multivariate analysis, the overall prevalence of incontinence increased significantly with "usually having a cough," "being troubled by swollen ankles," "giving birth," "ever smoking cigarettes," and "being troubled by headaches." Stress UI was associated with "usually having a cough" and "ever smoking cigarettes." Urge UI was associated with "having troubles with constipation" and "swollen ankles." Mixed incontinence was associated with "get sick more than other people," "usually having a cough," "taken hormones for menopause," and body mass index in the 50th to 75th percentile or greater. Age was not significantly associated with prevalence of UI or any of its subtypes. Only 40% of incontinent women indicated they had discussed urine loss with their physicians; 70% of these women felt satisfied with physicians' responses.

    CONCLUSION Incontinence occurs in more than half of community-dwelling women 45 years old and older. Almost one of five women in the community reported UI that affected normal activities. Treating the effect of incontinence will require further understanding of women's coping skills and self-perceptions. Prevalence does not appear to increase with age.

    PreviousNext
    Back to top

    In this issue

    Canadian Family Physician
    Vol. 51, Issue 1
    1 Jan 2005
    • Table of Contents
    • Index by author
    Download PDF
    Article Alerts
    Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
    Email Article

    Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

    NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

    Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
    Urinary incontinence: common problem among women over 45.
    (Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
    (Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
    CAPTCHA
    This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
    Citation Tools
    Urinary incontinence: common problem among women over 45.
    J Graham Swanson, Janusz Kaczorowski, Jennifer Skelly, Murray Finkelstein
    Canadian Family Physician Jan 2005, 51 (1) 84-85;

    Citation Manager Formats

    • BibTeX
    • Bookends
    • EasyBib
    • EndNote (tagged)
    • EndNote 8 (xml)
    • Medlars
    • Mendeley
    • Papers
    • RefWorks Tagged
    • Ref Manager
    • RIS
    • Zotero
    Respond to this article
    Share
    Urinary incontinence: common problem among women over 45.
    J Graham Swanson, Janusz Kaczorowski, Jennifer Skelly, Murray Finkelstein
    Canadian Family Physician Jan 2005, 51 (1) 84-85;
    Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
    • Tweet Widget
    • Facebook Like
    • Google Plus One

    Jump to section

    • Article
    • eLetters
    • Info & Metrics
    • PDF

    Related Articles

    • No related articles found.
    • PubMed
    • Google Scholar

    Cited By...

    • How far is too far? A nationwide cross-sectional study for establishing optimal hospital access time for Korean pregnant women
    • Google Scholar

    Similar Articles

    Navigate

    • Home
    • Current Issue
    • Archive
    • Collections - English
    • Collections - Française

    For Authors

    • Authors and Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Permissions
    • Terms of Use

    General Information

    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Subscribers

    Journal Services

    • Email Alerts
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • RSS Feeds

    Copyright © 2023 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

    Powered by HighWire