Abstract:

Objective To investigate the state quo of adult female urinary incontinence in a community of Shanghai, and investigate the impact of urinary incontinence on quality of life. Methods Six hundred and twenty-eight adult women in a community of Shanghai were selected, and were surveyed with questionnaires on the state quo of urinary incontinence and quality of life. The questionnaire design referred to the Bristol female lower urinary tract symptoms questionnaire (BFLUTS) and incontinence quality of life score (I-QOL). Results A total of 597 effective questionnaires were recovered, with the recovery rate of 95.1%. The prevalence of urinary incontinence was 36.5% (218/597), among which pure stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge incontinence (UUI) and mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) accounted for 47.7%, 14.7% and 37.6% respectively. There were significant differences in the prevalence rates of three types of urinary incontinence among women of different ages (P<0.01). In women with urinary incontinence, 53.7% scored 0 to 5 points in I-QOL, and 17.9% scored 20 points or more in I-QOL. Among three types of urinary incontinence, SUI had a relatively smaller impact on quality of life, and MUI had a larger impact on quality of life. Conclusion Urinary incontinence has become the important voiding disorder in adult women in China, and awareness of urinary incontinence should be enhanced for the timely medical treatment to improve the quality of life.

Key words: community adult female, urinary incontinence, prevalence, quality of life