Urinary incontinence in nulliparous women and their parous sisters.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the role of vaginal delivery and familial factors in the development of urinary incontinence by comparing the prevalence of this condition in nulliparous women and their parous sisters.


METHODS
A sample of 143 pairs of nulliparous/parous postmenopausal sisters completed a comprehensive questionnaire regarding symptoms of pelvic floor disorders. Of these, 101 pairs underwent clinical evaluation of urinary incontinence and genital prolapse.


RESULTS
Among this sample of biological sisters, urinary incontinence was reported by 47.6% of nulliparous women and by 49.7% of parous women (P = .782). We found no difference in the severity or type of urinary incontinence between these 2 groups. There was a high concordance in continence status, however, within biological sisters.


CONCLUSIONS
Vaginal birth does not seem to be associated with urinary incontinence in postmenopausal women. Considering the high concordance in continence status between sister pairs, and considering that the majority of parous women are continent, an underlying familial predisposition toward the development of urinary incontinence may be present.
Buchsbaum
Gunhilde M
GM
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA. Gunhilde_Buchsbaum@urmc.rochester.edu
Duecy
Erin E
EE
Kerr
Lindsey A
LA
Huang
Li-Shan
LS
Guzick
David S
DS
D017677:Age Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020073:Gravidity; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D017698:Postmenopause; D011247:Pregnancy; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D035781:Siblings; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D014589:Utah / Q000453:epidemiology; D014596:Uterine Prolapse / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology