Urinary incontinence severity: the impact on workplace productivity

Urinary Incontinence (UI) is a highly prevalent yet underreported condition among middle-aged women, with its symptom severity significantly impacting Workplace Productivity (WP). This study aimed to explore the impact of UI symptom severity on the WP of middle-aged women and to investigate the proportion of women who refrain from seeking medical treatment.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,214 Portuguese women aged 40-65 (M_age=49.97; SD_age=6.737), actively employed and self-reporting occasional/frequent urine loss. All data analyses were done with IBM SPSS Statistics and IBM SPSS AMOS. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to analyze associations while adjusting for confounders such as age, education, menopausal status, BMI, and perceived sleep quality.

The predictive model showed an acceptable fit (CFI = 0.921; TLI = 0.850; RMSEA = 0.076; SRMR = 0.049). Higher UI symptom severity significantly predicted greater WP impairment (β = 0.440; p <.001). Age (β= - 0.107; p =.002) and education (β= - 0.061; p =.020) were associated with a lower impact of UI on WP, while poor sleep quality was associated with greater WP impairment (β = 0.121; p =.006). Notably, 60% of participants experiencing had not contacted a doctor regarding their symptoms, and 72.7% had never undergone treatment for UI.

UI symptom severity negatively impacts WP, yet most affected women do not seek treatment. More effective workplace-based online interventions and accessible UI management strategies are essential to mitigating these effects. Future research should also incorporate objective clinical assessments and explore interventions tailored to different UI subtypes.