Urinary Incontinence in Women Aged 25-64 in Turkey: A Cross-Sectional Research

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to determine the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) in a representative sample of women living in Turkey at the national level and to investigate predisposing factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted nationwide on women aged 25-64. Women were selected from Family Physicians' lists using random sampling. For data collection, a valid Turkish questionnaire; the international incontinence questionnaire - short form (ICIQ-SF) was used. An ICIQ-SF questionnaire is a form of inquiry that assesses the presence and severity of urinary incontinence and predisposing factors were Results: A total of 1,179 participants took part. The median age was 43±10.8 years. “Do you always leak urine?" the prevalence of UI was 43.9% in the answer to the question. Furthermore, the UI prevalence was 47.4% (559/1179) according to the ICIQ-SF survey. The prevalence of UI did not differ between regions, but the difference between increased vaginal births (≥3), advanced age, and low educational status was significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: The high rate of UI among women in Turkey indicates an important women's health problem that can be prevented by some studies. We believe it is important that this is taken into account in national preventive women's health programs. We recommend that the ICIQ-SF query form be included in national preventive women's health programs by taking routine practice as a screening tool to detect urinary incontinence in adult women.