Prevalence of urinary incontinence and association with obesity in women enrolled in a teaching assistance unit in Maceió-AL

Abstract

The incidence of overweight and obesity as well as markers of Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) has grown in recent decades. Obesity, in addition to being associated with non-communicable chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, can be considered a risk factor for the development of disorders in the supporting structures of the abdomino-pelvic viscera, which can lead to complications such as Urinary Incontinence (UI) and genital prolapses. The association between incontinence and obesity is still poorly studied. Due to the relevance of the theme, this study was proposed, which aimed to investigate the prevalence of urinary incontinence in women enrolled in a care unit in the city of Maceió and to verify the association with obesity. This is an observational, analytical, cross-sectional study, with women between 18 and 60 years old, enrolled in a Teaching Care Unit in the City of Maceió, from July to September 2017. Women with suspected or confirmed pregnancies were excluded, or who had a neurological disease that resulted in difficulty understanding, hearing or speaking, making it impossible to respond to the questionnaire 109 women participated in the research, with a mean age of 38.1±12.3, ranging between a minimum age of 18 and a maximum of 59 years. The prevalence of self-reported UI in this population was 17.43%, with no association with obesity being found. It was possible to conclude that the prevalence of UI is within the percentage described in the literature and that even though no statistically significant association was found between UI and obesity, the number of incontinent, obese or overweight women is high. In addition, UI is increasingly present in young women, as well as obesity, as confirmed in this study.