The Relation Between Overweight and Urinary Incontinence in Postmenopausal Women

A Case Control Study

Abstract

The determination of factors associated with an increased risk of urinary incontinence postmenopause continues to be of considerable interest. The role of obesity or overweight (measured by the body mass index) and other factors that may increase the prevalence of urinary incontinence was evaluated in this case control study. Fifty-six cases and age-matched controls completed a detailed questionnaire on hypertension, smoking, abdominal surgery, obstetric history, and medical and family history. Study patients underwent physical and limited neurologic examinations and extensive urodynamic evaluation. McNemars test or the paired t test was used for the univariate analyses, with odds ratios when appropriate. Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine whether variables examined by univariate analyses would remain significant. Body mass index was examined at the cut points of 25 and 27. Twenty-eight cases (50%) had a body mass index of >27 compared with six (10%) of the controls (p = 0.0001, odds ratio 6.5). When all the variables were considered simultaneously in the multivariate analysis, only obesity maintained its significance. We concluded that obesity appears to be a significant risk factor for urinary incontinence in the postmenopausal woman. Furthermore, obesity may serve as a marker for a number of intercorrelated variables known as Syndrome X. Therefore, Syndrome X may be associated with urinary incontinence in older women.