Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jun;42(5):1111-1121.
doi: 10.1002/nau.25175. Epub 2023 Mar 21.

Body mass index, waist circumference, and urinary incontinence in midlife: A follow-up of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort

Sarah Hjorth  1 , Susanne M Axelsen  2 , Ditte Gommesen  1 , Anne C M Kjeldsen  1 , Katja A Taastrøm  1 , Ellen A Nohr  1
Affiliations

Body mass index, waist circumference, and urinary incontinence in midlife: A follow-up of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort

Sarah Hjorth et al. Neurourol Urodyn. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a modifiable risk factor for urinary incontinence, yet few studies have investigated how waist circumference as compared to body mass index (BMI) influences the risk of urinary incontinence.

Objective: To estimate how BMI and waist circumference associates with risk of urinary incontinence in midlife and determine which of the two is the strongest predictor of urinary incontinence.

Methods: Cohort study among mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort. Weight and waist circumference were self-reported 7 years after cohort entry. Symptoms of urinary incontinence in midlife were self-reported using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (ICIQ-FLUTS) and analyzed continuously and as presence or absence of any, stress (SUI), urgency (UUI), and mixed (MUI) urinary incontinence. Linear and log binomial regressions were used to calculate mean differences and risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Restricted cubic splines were generated to explore nonlinear relationships.

Results: Among 27 254 women at a mean age of 44.2 years, any urinary incontinence was reported by 32.1%, SUI by 20.9%, UUI by 2.4%, and MUI by 8.6%. For all outcomes, increases in risk were similar with higher BMI and waist circumference. The estimates of association were strongest for MUI (RR 1.10, 95% CI 1.08;1.12 and RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.10;1.14 for half a standard deviation increase in BMI and waist circumference, respectively). While increases in risk of the other outcomes were seen across the entire range of BMI and waist circumference, the risk of SUI rose until BMI 28 kg/m2 (waist circumference 95 cm), and then fell slightly.

Conclusions: Symptoms of urinary incontinence and prevalence of any urinary incontinence, SUI, UUI, and MUI increased with higher BMI and waist circumference. Self-reported BMI and waist circumference were equally predictive of urinary incontinence.

Keywords: Danish National Birth Cohort; body mass index; obesity; urinary incontinence; waist circumference; women.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Aoki Y, Brown HW, Brubaker L, Cornu JN, Daly JO, Cartwright R. Urinary incontinence in women. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2017;3:17042.
    1. Haylen BT, de Ridder D, Freeman RM, et al. An international urogynecological association (IUGA)/international continence society (ICS) joint report on the terminology for female pelvic floor dysfunction: terminology for female pelvic floor dysfunction. Neurourol Urodyn. 2010;29(1):4-20.
    1. Schreiber Pedersen L, Lose G, Høybye MT, Elsner S, Waldmann A, Rudnicki M. Prevalence of urinary incontinence among women and analysis of potential risk factors in Germany and Denmark. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2017;96(8):939-948.
    1. Aune D, Mahamat-Saleh Y, Norat T, Riboli E. Body mass index, abdominal fatness, weight gain and the risk of urinary incontinence: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. BJOG: Int J Obstet Gynaecol. 2019;126(12):1424-1433.
    1. Wesnes SL. Weight and urinary incontinence: the missing links. Int Urogynecol J. 2014;25(6):725-729.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources