Is Alcohol Consumption Associated with Male Urinary Incontinence?

To investigate the association between alcohol consumption and urinary incontinence among Japanese men.

Seven hundred men aged 40-75 years were recruited from the community in middle and southern Japan. A validated food frequency questionnaire was administered face-to-face to obtain information on dietary intake and habitual alcohol consumption. Urinary incontinence status was ascertained using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form.

Among the 683 eligible male participants, 49 men (7.2%) experienced urine leakage for the past 2.6 years (standard deviation [SD] 1.9). Their prevalence of alcohol drinking (beer, sake, shochu, wine, whisky) was lower than others without the condition, even though the daily mean ethanol intakes were similar between the two groups, 31.8 g (SD 45.4) and 31.3 g (SD 41.9), respectively. Relative to non-drinkers, the adjusted odds of urinary incontinence were 0.43 (95% CI 0.19 to 0.96) for low ethanol intake, and up to 32 g per day and 0.53 (95% CI 0.22 to 1.28) for drinking, at most, one can (350 mL) of beer daily. However, higher levels of alcohol consumption had no significant benefit in reducing the incontinence risk.

The findings suggested an inverse association between urinary incontinence and low alcohol consumption particularly beer in middle-aged and older Japanese men.