Assessment of urinary incontinence in the women in eastern Turkey

The aims of the present study were to determine the types of UI among women visiting the urology department, to identify the potential risk factors associated with each type of UI, and to identify healthcare-seeking behaviors of affected women in our region.

The data of 617 community-dwelling women, who were at least 18 years of age or older and who presented with a complaint of UI ongoing over a year, and those without UI, who were admitted for any other reason, from June 2010 to April 2012, were evaluated.

Mean age was 51.29 years (range 18-110 years); median parity was 3.54 (range 0-11) and 88.2% of the women were married. Mean BMI was 28.01 kg/m(2). Very few women (18.5%) accepted UI as a disease and searched for medical help by themselves; however, the remaining women (81.5%) were brought or directed for evaluation by someone else. Stress UI was reported by 43 women (10.5%), urge UI and mixed UI were noted by 153 (37.5%) and 212 (52%) women respectively.

The most frequent type of UI was mixed UI in our region. Age, BMI, multiparity, and hypertension were identified to have a different importance for each type of UI, but diabetes mellitus, birth trauma, gynecological surgery, lumbar disc hernia (LDH), and multiple sclerosis (MS) were the other important related factors. However, a small number of patients accepted UI as a disease and searched for therapy. This reveals that the public should be informed in detail about female UI in developing countries.