title: Urinary incontinence is associated with an increase in falls: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Is urinary incontinence associated with falls in community-dwelling older people?
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies investigating falls and urinary incontinence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-dwelling older people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Falls rather than fracture or injury, and any type of urinary incontinence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Odds ratios of nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. The odds of falling were 1.45 (95% CI 1.36 to 1.54) in the presence of any type of urinary incontinence. The odds of falling were 1.54 (95% CI 1.41 to 1.69) in the presence of urge incontinence. The odds of falling were 1.11 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.23) in the presence of stress incontinence. The odds of falling were 1.92 (95% CI 1.69 to 2.18) in the presence of mixed incontinence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Urge urinary incontinence, but not stress urinary incontinence, is associated with a modest increase in falls. Falls prevention programs need to include an assessment of incontinence and referral for interventions to ameliorate the symptoms of urge incontinence.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Pauline.Chiarelli@newcastle.edu.au
authors.forename: Pauline E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Chiarelli
authors.forename: Lynette A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Osmotherly
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention; D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D053202:Urinary Incontinence, Urge / Q000453:epidemiology*