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Is the belief that urinary incontinence is normal for ageing related to older Canadian women’s experience of urinary incontinence?

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

Many women consider urinary incontinence (UI) a normal part of ageing. This belief may contribute to delays in treatment seeking. This study examined the relationship among holding that belief, UI type and severity, impact on quality of life, management and healthcare seeking in a sample of older community-dwelling Canadian women.

Methods

This was a secondary analysis of a controlled trial examining the impact of continence promotion workshops on UI self-management. All women who consented and provided baseline data were included in this analysis regardless of eligibility for the main study.

Results

The sample included 4446 women (2022 with UI) of mean (SD) age 78.2 (9.0) years and BMI 26.6 (5.6). The belief that UI is normal for ageing was held by 2149 women [48.3% (83.7% of 1798 incontinent women)] and was not associated with age [adjusted odds ratio (OR) (95% CI): 1.00 (0.99, 1.01), p = 0.72] or perception of overall health. Women with this belief had more impaired QoL compared with the women who felt UI was not normal for ageing [mean (SD) 83.9 (19.4) vs. 87.4 (18.6) (p < 0.01)]. This belief remained unaffected by daily UI and pad use up to 2/day.

Conclusions

More than two-thirds of women thought UI normal for ageing. This belief was not associated with age or perception of overall health. More severe incontinence and greater quantities of pad use did not make women less likely to hold this belief.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Quazi Imaduddin Ibrahim for his assistance with the statistical analysis.

Funding

Funding provided by: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS) and Capital Health Endowed Research Funds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, 1-198 Clinical Sciences Bldg, 11350 83 Ave, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2P4, Canada

    Christina Shaw, Saima Rajabali & Adrian Wagg

  2. Michel Saucier Chair of Pharmacy, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Cara Tannenbaum

Authors
  1. Christina Shaw
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  2. Saima Rajabali
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  3. Cara Tannenbaum
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  4. Adrian Wagg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adrian Wagg.

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Conflicts of interest

Dr. Wagg has received funding from Astellas Pharma, Pfizer Corp., and Essity Heath & Hygiene AB for research, speaker honoraria and consultancy—none directly related to this paper.

Dr. Rajabali, Dr. Tannenbaum and Miss Shaw declare no financial conflicts of interest.

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Abstract presentation

Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Continence Society, Florence, Italy, September 2017

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Shaw, C., Rajabali, S., Tannenbaum, C. et al. Is the belief that urinary incontinence is normal for ageing related to older Canadian women’s experience of urinary incontinence?. Int Urogynecol J 30, 2157–2160 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-019-03906-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-019-03906-z

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