Original researchUrinary incontinence predictors and life impact in ethnically diverse perimenopausal women22☆,
Section snippets
Materials and methods
This report is based on data from the baseline visit of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a prospective, multiethnic, multisite study of the natural history of the menopausal transition. The SWAN study sites are in seven locations: Boston, Chicago, the Detroit area, Los Angeles, Newark, Pittsburgh, and Oakland, California. The sampling frame differed somewhat across SWAN sites using random sampling from current census lists, commercial electric utility household lists,
Results
More than half of the 3258 women in this study reported experiencing urinary incontinence in the past year with almost 15% reporting moderate and 10% reporting severe incontinence (Table 1). Any incontinence was reported most frequently by white women and least frequently by Hispanic women. Consistent with the eligibility criteria, women ranged in age from 42 to 52 years with a mean age of 46.4 (±2.7) years. Table 2 presents further information on the demographic and health characteristics of
Discussion
The 57% prevalence of urinary incontinence that we report is higher than the 30% to 41% reported by some2, 8 and less than the 69% reported by others1 who surveyed comparable age groups using symptom recall in the past year as the measure. One explanation for the higher prevalence in the study reported here is that in the past few years advertising in the United States for incontinence medications and products has increased tremendously, perhaps increasing women’s willingness to disclose the
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The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation was funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the Office of Research on Women’s Health of the National Institutes of Health. Supplemental funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, the National Center on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the Office of Minority Health, and the Office of AIDS Research is also gratefully acknowledged. Clinical Centers: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (U01 NR04061, MaryFran Sowers, PI); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (U01 AG12531, Joel Finkelstein, PI); Rush University, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, Chicago, IL (U01 AG12505, Lynda Powell, PI); University of California, Davis/Kaiser (U01 AG12554, Ellen Gold, PI); University of California, Los Angeles, CA (U01 A12539, Gail Greendale, PI); University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ (U01 AG12535, Gerson Weiss, PI); and the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (U01 AG12546, Karen Matthews, PI). Central Laboratory: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (U01 AG12495, Central Ligand Assay Satellite Services, Dan McConnell, PI). Coordinating Center: New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA (U01AG12553, Sonja McKinlay, PI). Project Officers: Carol Hudgings, Sheryl Sherman. Steering Committee Chair: Jennifer L. Kelsey.
- 1
The manuscript was reviewed by the Publications and Presentations Committee of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation and has its endorsement.
- 2
The authors thank the study staff at each site and all of the women who participated in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation.