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Risk factors for urinary incontinence in Taiwanese women aged 60 or over

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Abstract

To determine risk factors of urinary incontinence (UI) in Taiwanese women aged 60 or over, face-to-face interviews with 1,517 women, selected by a multistage random method, were completed. The prevalence of UI in this age group was 29.8%. Factors and their prevalence associated with UI were age [odds ratio (OR)=1.04 per year], diabetes mellitus (39.8%, p = 0.002), hypertension (39.5%, p = 0.001), abdominal gynecological surgery (41.4%, p = 0.001), hysterectomy (42.4%, p = 0.003), history of drug allergy (41.3%, p = 0.001), smoking (45.5%, p = 0.010), hormone replacement therapy (41.5%, p = 0.026), and high body mass index (OR = 1.05 per unit). Alcohol consumption and marriage did not increase the risk of UI. UI is a common and costly problem in elderly women. It diminishes the quality of life of the affected women. Of the associated factors that are preventable, modifiable, or controllable, smoking, prior hysterectomy, and obesity may have the greatest impact on the prevalence of UI.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the personnel of the NIFP, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, for their contribution to the study. We are also grateful to Miss L.H. Chiang, research assistant in the study, for her interest and contribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Medical University-Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ching-Hung Hsieh & Chun-Sen Hsu

  2. Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Ching-Hung Hsieh & Meng-Chih Lee

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mackay Memorial Hospital and Mackay Medicine, Nursing and Management College, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tsung-Hsien Su

  4. Department of Mathematics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shao-Tung Chang

Authors
  1. Ching-Hung Hsieh
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  2. Chun-Sen Hsu
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  3. Tsung-Hsien Su
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  4. Shao-Tung Chang
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  5. Meng-Chih Lee
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Correspondence to Tsung-Hsien Su.

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Hsieh, CH., Hsu, CS., Su, TH. et al. Risk factors for urinary incontinence in Taiwanese women aged 60 or over. Int Urogynecol J 18, 1325–1329 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-007-0314-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-007-0314-z

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