Associations between metabolic syndrome and female stress urinary incontinence: a meta-analysis

The objective was to identify the associations between metabolic syndrome (MS) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women and to provide an evidence base for clinical practice.

A meta-analysis of cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies about the association between MS and SUI was performed using databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine disc (CBMdisc), Wanfang Database (WanFang Data), and VIP database (VIP). The time limit was from the commencement of each database to 1 November 2020. Two researchers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. RevMan 5.3 software was used for statistical analysis. The dichotomous variables were presented as the risk ratio (odds ratio, OR) and 95% CI as the effect indicators.

Six studies were included in the meta-analysis, with a total sample size of 3,678 cases. The results showed that the risk for SUI in women with MS was three times those without MS (OR = 3.41, 95% CI 2.01, 5.77, p <0.00001), and the difference was statistically significant. The results of subgroup analysis showed that MS was significantly associated with SUI in the subgroups of pre- and postmenopausal women (OR = 2.46, 95% CI 1.63, 3.73, p < 0.00001), and in the subgroups of other types of women (OR = 3.41, 95% CI 2.01, 5.77, p = 0.0003), and the differences were statistically significant.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with SUI in women and increases its risk.