Five-year incidence and remission rates of female urinary incontinence in a Swedish population less than 65 years old.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine the incidence and remission rates of urinary incontinence in a population-based sample of women.


METHODS
A total of 382 (87.6%) of 436 eligible women aged 20 to 59 years answered a questionnaire and underwent a gynecologic examination at baseline and were followed up approximately 5 years later.


RESULTS
Urinary incontinence was present in 23.6% of women at baseline and in 27.5% at follow-up. The mean annual incidence rate of incontinence was 2.9%, and the mean annual incidence rate of incontinence weekly or more often was 0.5%. Women that were receiving estrogen at baseline were more likely than other women to have incontinence during follow-up. The mean annual remission rate among the 90 women who were incontinent at baseline was 5.9%. The annual net increase of incontinence in the study population was 0. 82%.


CONCLUSIONS
Female urinary incontinence seems to be a dynamic condition with a relatively high rate of spontaneous remission, a fact of which physicians should be aware when assessing and planning prevention and treatment strategies.
Samuelsson
E C
EC
Family Medicine Section, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, University Hospital, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Victor
F T
FT
Svärdsudd
K F
KF
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D017773:Pelvic Floor; D011372:Progestins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011788:Quality of Life; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000453:epidemiology; D015430:Weight Gain
D011372:Progestins