Stress Incontinence during Different High-Impact Exercises in Women: A Pilot Survey

Abstract

The aim of this survey was to investigate the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) among women (primigravida, multigravida, and nulligravida) in high-impact exercise groups-CrossFit, kickboxing, and boot camp. Incontinence Survey was modified to an anonymous online questionnaire. A total of 17 participants, 64.2% reported at least some urinary leakage during exercise. About 85.7% of participants in each of the 3 high-intensity exercise groups exercised >3 h/week. There was no significant difference in the likelihood of urinary leakage between participants who have had at least 1 pregnancy and those who had never been pregnant. CrossFit group were significantly more likely to report urinary leakage than those in the kickboxing and boot camp groups combined (p = 0.023). The participants did not exhibit typical risk factors, as they were premenopausal, active, and had an average body mass index within the normal range. This pilot survey indicates that all women those who do high-impact exercises are susceptible to stress urinary incontinence (SUI), and that CrossFit poses a greater risk for SUI in terms of more jumping resulting in increased intra-abdominal pressure and ground reaction forces compared to others. Our pilot study indicates that a higher risk of SUI during high impact exercises may exist associated with previous pregnancy but also in nulliparous women.

Keywords: high-intensity exercise; incontinence; parity; pelvic floor; stress urinary incontinence; women’s health.

Figure 1

(A): Percent of respondents experiencing urinary leakage based on past pregnancy. (B): Percent of respondents experiencing urinary leakage based on exercise type. * statistical significant of the of urinary leakage between exercise type; Fisher’s exact test.