THE FREQUENCY, TYPES AND RISK FACTORS OF URINARY INCONTINENCE IN WOMEN PRESENTING TO THE GYNAECOLOGY OUTPATIENTS OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

  Objectives:   To determine the frequency of urinary incontinence and analyze the risk factors associated with it.   Design:   This was a cross sectional study.   Place and duration of study:   It was conducted at consultant clinics of Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, between October 2019 to September 2020.   Methodology:   560 women aged more than 18 years were interviewed through a questionnaire. The questionnaire contained information regarding Age, Parity, BMI, Urinary Incontinence, Stress Incontinence, Urge Incontinence, Mixed Incontinence.   Results:   The overall prevalence of urinary incontinence was 32.5% (n=182) and showed an increasing trends with age, BMI and parity. The mean age of the sample was 46.16 years, mean BMI of 28.90 kg/m2 and mean parity of 4.28. Final logistic regression model showed that increasing age, BMI and parity were associated with increased odds of having urinary incontinence. The distribution of urge urinary incontinence, stress urinary incontinence and mixed urinary incontinence was 40.11% (n=73), 35.71% (n=65), 24.73% (n=45) respectively. Mixed urinary incontinence was predominant in older women. Urge incontinence was more prevalent in women with higher BMI whereas stress urinary incontinence had a significant association with parity.   Conclusion: Almost one-third of the women attending consultant gynaecological clinics had some form of urinary incontinence. All types of urinary incontinence risk was a function of age, BMI and parity.