title: Association between physical activity and urinary incontinence in a community-based elderly population aged 70 years and over.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the present study was to evaluate the association between physical activity (PA) levels and urinary incontinence (UI) in a community-based elderly population aged > or =70 yr.
  
  
  METHODS
  This population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2003 using an extensive health interview for each participant. A self-reported single-item questionnaire was used to estimate different levels of PA in each subject. The prevalence of UI was estimated by the self-administered International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire. The study population included 676 Japanese men and women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of UI was 25% (34% in women and 16% in men). After adjustment for potential confounding factors, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of UI compared with the lowest PA group was 0.71 (0.47-1.09) and 0.58 (0.35-0.96) in subjects exhibiting middle and high levels of PA, respectively (p for trend = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High PA level was independently related to a lower self-reported prevalence of UI in a community-dwelling elderly population aged > or =70 yr. Although this cross-sectional study cannot demonstrate a temporal relationship between PA and the onset of UI, the findings suggest that PA may have a potentially beneficial effect on the prevention of UI. A prospective study or randomized trials are required to clarify the causality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Kaijun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hozawa
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohmori-Matsuda
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Arta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farmawati
authors.forename: Ashkan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sami
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagatomi
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*