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Is urinary incontinence a barrier to exercise in women
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of urinary incontinence during exercise in women, estimate whether exercise intensity is related to leakage severity, and report women's assessments of incontinence as a barrier to exercise. METHODS: Questionnaires were mailed to 5,130 women aged 18-60 years drawn from National Family Opinion research panels. Physical activity levels were assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Urinary incontinence, defined as involuntary leakage in the last 30 days, was assessed with the Sandvik Severity Index and a global measure of bother. Prevalence estimates were adjusted via post-stratification weighting. RESULTS: A total of 3,364 eligible women responded (68%), of whom 34.6% were insufficiently active (95% confidence interval [CI] 32.7-36.5%), 29.7% were sufficiently active (95% CI 27.9-31.5%), and 35.7% were highly active (95% CI 33.8-37.6%). Urinary incontinence prevalence was 34.3% (95% CI 32.5-36.1%). One in seven women experienced urinary leakage during physical activity; this was more common among highly active (15.9%) than less active women (11.8%) (P = .01). After adjusting for age, comorbidities, education, and race, women with very severe incontinence were 2.64 times (95% CI 1.25-5.55) more likely to be insufficiently active than continent women. Incontinence was a moderate or substantial barrier to exercise for 9.8% (95% CI 8.8-10.9%) of women. Of incontinent women, the proportion for whom incontinence was a moderate or substantial barrier to exercise increased with each severity category: 9.2%, slight; 37.8%, moderate; 64.6%, severe; and 85.3%, very severe (P < .01). CONCLUSION: Urinary incontinence is perceived as a barrier to exercise, particularly by women with more severe leakage.
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“Younger community-dwelling women with urinary incontinence (both stress and urge) are less likely to be physically active than continent controls.(5, 6)”
From Urinary incontinence and disability in community-dwelling women: A cross-sectional study: Urinary Incontinence and Disability in Ambulatory Women (2015) · cites this paper as [5]
In the citing paper
“Prior studies suggest that women with stress and urge incontinence are less likely to participate in recreational exercise (5) and everyday physical activities such as walking, shopping, and house-cleaning than continent women.(6)”
From Urinary incontinence and disability in community-dwelling women: A cross-sectional study: Urinary Incontinence and Disability in Ambulatory Women (2015) · cites this paper as [5]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Nygaard, I., Girts, T., Fultz, N. H., Kinchen, K., Pohl, G., & Sternfeld, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Iowa (US)
- ORCID
- Nygaard, Ingrid
- Venue
- Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Published
- 2005-08
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 307-314
- ISSN
- 0029-7844 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2334168932
- Cited by
- 162
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 3.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Obstetrics and Gynecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Dkgest of the World Latest Medical Information
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (7k24hd042469-05)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K24 HD042469-01)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Pelvic floor disorders treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Urinary Bladder and Prostate Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Keywords
- urinary incontinence, barriers to exercise, physical activity, women, incontinence severity, physical activity level, prevalence, exercise motivation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Urinary Incontinence, Exercise, Prevalence
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