Is vision-related functional burden associated with urinary incontinence?: The United States National Health and...

Visual impairment and urinary incontinence (UI) are 2 common diseases in the general population that can significantly impact one's life, with multiple common risk factors. But the association between functional vision and UI is not yet clear. This study estimated the relationship between vision-related functional burden and UI in a nationally representative sample in the United States. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003 to 2008 were analyzed, which included 15,955 American adults aged 20 and older. Urinary incontinence and vision-related functional burden were measured separately through the NHANES questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to explore the association between vision-related functional burden and UI. A total of 9396 NHANES participants had complete data on functional vision, UI, and selected covariates. Among the participants, 11.44% (10.57, 12.37) had visual related functional burden, and the prevalence of UI was stress UI: 24.28% (23.28, 25.30), urge UI: 19.01% (17.80, 20.27), mixed urinary incontinence: 9.46% (8.86, 10.10), respectively. After controlling for age, gender, race, smoking status, drinking behavior, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, poverty to income ratio, employment status, and education level, vision-related functional burden was still significantly associated with UI. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of stress UI was 1.79 (1.45-2.21, P < .001), the aOR of urge UI was 1.44 (1.23-1.69, P < .001), and the aOR of mixed urinary incontinence was 1.66 (1.32-2.10, P < .001). In the United States, vision-related functional burden is associated with an increased incidence of UI in adults aged 20 and above.