U-shaped association between sleep duration and urgency urinary incontinence in women: a cross-sectional study

To investigate the association between sleep duration and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) among adult women.

Cross-sectional data were retrieved from the 2005-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. To explore the association between sleep duration and urgency urinary incontinence, multivariable logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression analysis was carried out.

Among 9204 adult women, the weighted urinary incontinence prevalence was  31% for urgency urinary incontinence (UUI). The fully adjusted multivariable model revealed that participants with short (< 7 h) or long (> 9 h) sleep duration were more likely to report UUI compared to participants with normal (7-9 h) sleep duration (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.03-1.40, p = 0.02, OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.11-1.76, p = 0.005, respectively). Subgroup analysis showed no significant interaction. Furthermore, additional analysis demonstrated a U-shaped correlation between sleep duration and incident UUI.

The non-linear association exists between sleep duration and urgency urinary incontinence. Compared with insufficient or excessive sleep, normal sleep duration is related to lower prevalence of urgency urinary incontinence. Future prospective longitudinal studies should be conducted to further investigate and determine the degree of the association between sleep time and urgent urinary incontinence.