Urine Loss during a Volleyball Competition: Comparison between Amateur and Professional Athletes

High-impact sports can cause dysfunction to the female pelvic floor that leads to the occurrence of stress urinary incontinence.

To identify and compare the presence of urine loss between professional and amateur female volleyball athletes during a competition.

A cross-sectional and comparative study was conducted on 75 volleyball athletes, including 30 amateurs and 45 professional athletes. Female athletes 18 years of age or older were included. Urine loss during the competition was evaluated by self-report and measured by a pad test (in grams). Day-to-day urinary incontinence was identified using the Urinary Distress Inventory 6 (UDI-6). Before the beginning of the game, the instruments were applied by individual interview for data collection and the pad was positioned. After the game, the pad was removed and weighed again. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used, with a significance level of 5%.

Half of the professional (50.0%) and amateur (55.6%) athletes have symptoms of urine loss during a competition. Objective urine loss was higher among professional athletes (4.5 ± 1.4 g) compared to amateur athletes (3.8 ± 1.4 g). There was a significant difference (P < .001) in objective urine loss between symptomatic (mean = 5.41, standard deviation [SD] = 0.8) and asymptomatic professional athletes (mean = 3.40, SD = 1.3).

Self-report of urinary incontinence during the competition was common among professional and amateur athletes. However, objective urine loss was significantly higher among professional athletes.