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Prevalence and predictors of overactive bladder in nonpregnant nulliparous women below 65 years of age

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

The aetiology of the overactive bladder (OAB) symptom complex is still poorly understood. In order to obtain further insight, the prevalence and predictors of the symptoms included in OAB, that is urgency, urgency incontinence (UUI), frequency and nocturia, were investigated in a sample of nonpregnant nulliparous women.

Methods

A national, postal and web-based survey of OAB symptoms was conducted in women aged 25–64 years (n = 9,197). Crude prevalence and prevalence adjusted according to body mass index (BMI) were calculated from a logistic regression model to evaluate the prevalence of OAB.

Results

The response rate was 52%. The prevalence of urgency, bothersome urgency, UUI, and nocturia, but not daytime frequency, increased consistently with advancing age and increasing BMI. Urgency was associated with BMI, age ≥45 years, nocturia, and daytime frequency of eight or more micturitions. Daytime urinary micturition frequency was not affected by age either in women with OAB or in women without OAB. Bothersome OAB affected almost half of the woman in the oldest age group and was strongly associated with nocturia of two or more micturitions and OAB with UUI.

Conclusions

There were contrasting changes in the prevalence of the different symptoms included in OAB. With increasing age and BMI, the prevalence of nocturia, urgency and UUI increased, while daytime frequency remained stable. These findings are of importance as the primary endpoint for the evaluation of drug therapies for OAB has often been daytime urinary frequency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urogynaecology, King’s College Hospital, London, UK

    Dudley Robinson

  2. Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Sigvard Åkervall

  3. Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    Adrian Wagg

  4. Gothenburg Continence Research Centre, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Adrian Wagg, Ian Milsom & Maria Gyhagen

  5. Department of Urology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Christopher Chapple

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Södra Älvsborgs Hospital, Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, SE-501 82, Borås, Sweden

    Maria Gyhagen

Authors
  1. Dudley Robinson
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  2. Sigvard Åkervall
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  3. Adrian Wagg
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  4. Christopher Chapple
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  5. Ian Milsom
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  6. Maria Gyhagen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Gyhagen.

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Conflicts of interest

D.R. has received honoraria from Astellas, Allergan, Ixaltis, Ferring and Pfizer for consultancy, speaker and/or trial participation. S.Å. has no competing interests. A.W. has received honoraria from Astellas Pharma, Pfizer Corp and SCA. C.C. has received honoraria from Allergan, Astellas, Medtronic, Ono and Recordati for consultancy, speaker and/or trial participation. I.M. has received honoraria from Allergan, Astellas, Pfizer and SCA for consultancy, speaker and trial participation. M.G. has received honoraria from Astellas for speaker participation.

Funding

The study was supported by a National LUA/ALF grant no. 11,315, grants from The Göteborg Medical Society and Hjalmar Svenssons Fund, Alice Swenzons Fund and The Healthcare Committee, Region Västra Götaland. The funding sources had no role in study design, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report.

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Robinson, D., Åkervall, S., Wagg, A. et al. Prevalence and predictors of overactive bladder in nonpregnant nulliparous women below 65 years of age. Int Urogynecol J 29, 531–537 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-017-3435-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-017-3435-z

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