Sexual problems in women with urinary incontinence. A retrospective study of medical records

The medical records of a consecutive series of 421 women diagnosed at a Department of Gynaecology as having urinary incontinence were surveyed (in retrospect) in order to analyse how frequently sexual complaints had been registered. After exclusion for age above 60 years and for concomitant chronic somatic or psychiatric disease, the charts of 193 women remained. Sexual problems had been registered in 28 (15%) of these. The complaints were dyspareunia, and in two cases decreased sexual desire. In this sample no significant associations between sexual complaints and type/treatment of incontinence, age or number of deliveries were found. As gauged by the available literature these patients have revealed--or have been noted to have--less sexual problems than somatically and psychiatrically healthy females have in the general population.