Prevalence of urinary incontinence in Korean women:an epidemiologic survey.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) in a Korean national community sample of female adults aged 30-79 years. During April 2003, a national Korea telephone survey using quota sampling methods was conducted. The clinically validated computer-assisted telephone interview approach was used in the survey. Of the 1,500 subjects contacted, 1,303 were successfully interviewed (response rate 86.9%). Overall, UI was reported by 40.8%, and 22.9, 3.1, and 14.9% reported pure stress, urge, and mixed UI, respectively. The prevalence of stress, urge, and mixed UI generally did not increase with age. Urge and mixed UI had a greater impact than stress UI on daily tasks (P < 0.001), social life (P < 0.001), depression or anxiety due to UI (P < 0.001), worry about UI (P < 0.001), sex life (P < 0.001), wear protection due to UI (P = 0.011), and quality of life (P < 0.001). In subjects with pure stress UI, 28.3% reported impaired quality of life compared with 43.9% and 43.8% of subjects with urge and mixed UI. Of those individuals with stress, urge, and mixed UI, 19.1, 20.0, and 25.8% had the willingness to seek medical consultation. This study is the first to examine the prevalence of UI in Korean women. The present study revealed that there was a high prevalence of UI in this population. Our descriptive research provides a valuable insight into the need for tailored education to this population about UI.
Choo
Myung-Soo
MS
Department of Urology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Ku
Ja Hyeon
JH
Oh
Seung-June
SJ
Lee
Kyu-Sung
KS
Paick
Jae-Seung
JS
Seo
Ju Tae
JT
Kim
Duk Yoon
DY
Lee
Jeong Ju
JJ
Lee
Jeong Gu
JG
Na
Yong Gil
YG
Kwon
Dong Deuk
DD
Park
Won-Hee
WH
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000453:epidemiology*