Prevalence and severity of urinary incontinence in elderly Mexican-American women.
OBJECTIVE
To measure prevalence and characteristics of urinary incontinence in older Mexican-American women.


METHODS
Cross-sectional analysis of a longitudinal survey of a representative sample of older Mexican Americans.


METHODS
Five southwestern states in the United States.


METHODS
A total of 1589 Mexican-American women, aged 65 and older who were part of the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly.


METHODS
Self-reported psychosocial, demographic, and health variables; self-reported history of symptoms of urinary incontinence.


RESULTS
Two hundred thirty-nine (15%) of the 1589 Mexican-American women reported having urinary incontinence. Almost 33% reported urge incontinence symptoms, 10% reported stress incontinence symptoms, and 42% had symptoms suggestive of mixed incontinence. Thirty-five percent of subjects reported incontinence episodes with moderate to large amounts of urine loss, and 15% reported that their urinary symptoms kept them from engaging in social activities. Age and body mass index were risk factors for incontinence (P=.02 and P=.03, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first community-based survey examining rates of urinary incontinence in Mexican-American women. The prevalence of urinary incontinence may be lower in older Mexican-American women than in the general population. They may also have a higher percentage of urge as opposed to stress incontinence symptoms and may suffer from moderate to large volumes of urine loss associated with their incontinence episodes.
Espino
David V
DV
Department of Family Practice, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA. espino@uthscsa.edu
Palmer
Ray F
RF
Miles
Toni P
TP
Mouton
Charles P
CP
Lichtenstein
Michael J
MJ
Markides
Kyriakos P
KP
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D015206:Southwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology