Urinary incontinence in working women: an exploratory study

Women who work for a large academic center were surveyed about urinary incontinence. The response rate was 57%. Of the 1113 usable questionnaires, 232 (21%) indicated that urinary incontinence occurred at least monthly. The average age of incontinent women was 45 years (SD = 10 years). Incontinent women were significantly older and had a higher body mass index than continent women. There were also ethnic differences between incontinent and continent groups, although ethnicity was not a predictor of incontinence. Only a third of the women thought incontinence was an important problem to resolve and 46% reported incontinence to their physician or nurse. Forty percent reported that they did not know if the incontinence could be improved, but 81% wanted to learn more about incontinence.