title: Prevalence of anal incontinence in adults and impact on quality-of-life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence of anal incontinence in the general population and in patients consulting gastroenterologist and gynecologist practices in the Rhône Alpes area.
  
  
  METHODS
  For the first study a questionnaire was sent to a sample of 2800 people selected randomly from the electoral roll. Another study of patients selected randomly among patients attending gynecology and gastroenterology consultations was performed. A Jorge & Wexner score above or equal to 5 was used to define anal incontinence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the first study, a total of 706 questionnaires was analyzed: the prevalence of anal incontinence was 5.1% [95% CI: 3.6-7.0] and the scores of each dimension of the SF-12 Health Survey were significantly lower among incontinent people than among continent people. The prevalence was significantly higher for women (7.5% [5.0-10.7]) than for men (2.4% [1.1-4.7]). Eighty-four physicians returned 835 valid questionnaires. The prevalence was 13.1% [10.1-16.6] among patients attending gastroenterology consultations and 5.0% [3.1-7.6] among those attending gynecology consultations. For 84.8% of the incontinent patients, the physician was unaware of the patient's disorder.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence figures we obtained coincide with data in the literature. This disorder is common and affects the patient's quality-of-life, but remains underestimated and under-diagnosed.
authors.affiliation: Fédération des Spécialités Digestives, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon. henri.damon@wanadoo.fr
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Damon
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Guye
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seigneurin
authors.forename: Frédérique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Abdoul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sonko
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Faucheron
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Grandjean
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mellier
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valancogne
authors.forename: Marie-Odile
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Fayard
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guyot
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Barth
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mion
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005242:Fecal Incontinence / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life