Overactive Bladder, Urinary Incontinence Common in Middle-Aged Women

The researchers found that the prevalence of OAB was 9.5% (OAB with urinary incontinence). [wet], 5.4 percent; OAB without UI was 4.1 percent), while the prevalence of stress UI (without OAB-wet) was 13.9 percent and the prevalence of mixed UI was 2.1 percent. There was a significant association between OAB and age 45 to 54 years, and a moderate association between postmenopausal status and OAB. In a multivariate-adjusted model, significant associations with stress urinary incontinence (without OAB-wet) were found among the age groups 45 to 49 years and 50 to 54 years, with a body mass index of 23 to 27.4 and ≥27.5 kg / m2 and giving birth status.

“This study highlights how common urinary incontinence is in women,” Stephanie Fobion, MD, medical director of the North American Menopause Society, said in a statement. “Given the significant negative impact on quality of life and the existence of effective strategies for managing these burdensome symptoms, clinicians should routinely ask women about urinary incontinence.”