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Association of urinary incontinence and sexual function in women
Author(s) -
Su ChengChen,
Sun Beth YuChen,
Jiann BangPing
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of urology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.172
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1442-2042
pISSN - 0919-8172
DOI - 10.1111/iju.12610
Subject(s) - urinary incontinence , medicine , sexual function , urinary system , odds ratio , stress incontinence , risk factor , population , gynecology , urology , environmental health
Objectives To investigate the association between urinary incontinence and female sexual function in a non‐clinical population. Methods A self‐administered questionnaire was distributed to 2159 female employees of two hospitals. Results Of the 883 sexually active participants, pure stress urinary incontinence was reported in 18.3%, pure urge urinary incontinence in 6.8%, mixed urinary incontinence in 15.1% and no urinary incontinence in 59.8%. The prevalence of female sexual difficulty, defined by the F emale S exual F unction I ndex total score ≤26.55, was 52.0%, 56.1%, 54.3% and 42.2%, respectively ( P < 0.05). After adjustment of age, menstrual status, length of marriage, having children and relationship with the partner, all types of urinary incontinence showed a significant association with female sexual difficulty with an odds ratio of 1.6–1.8. Taking into consideration the individual domains, pure urge urinary incontinence was a risk factor for decreased sexual lubrication and more sexual pain, and mixed urinary incontinence was a risk factor for less sexual satisfaction, whereas pure stress urinary incontinence was not related to a difficulty in individual domains. Conclusions Stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence are associated with general impairment of female sexual function to a mild degree. Only urge urinary incontinence is related to sexual difficulty in specific domains including sexual lubrication and sexual pain.