Quality of life in obese women with symptoms of urinary incontinence

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is a contributing factor to the development of urinary incontinence (UI). Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of UI symptoms in women with morbid obesity and their impacts on quality of life (QOL), correlating the influence of age and body mass index (BMI) with the presence of UI. Method: Sixty-five women undergoing preoperative bariatric surgery, aged 35.8 ± 9.97 years, with an average BMI of 45.04 ± 6.79 kg/m2 were asked about the presence of UI symptoms; when they answered positively, the King’s Health Questionnaire (validated into Portuguese) was applied. The questionnaire was self-administered and all answers were assigned numerical scores. These scores were distributed according to quartiles and correlated with age and BMI. The level of hypothesis rejection was 5%, and analyses were performed using BioEstat software version 5.3. Results: Among 65 interviewees, 19 (29.23%) had symptoms of UI and went on to answer the questionnaire. The highest-scoring areas were “incontinence impact” (36.8) and “general health perception” (32.9). There was no significant correlation between questionnaire scores and BMI. In the association with age, the “incontinence impact” domain showed a significant, positive and moderate correlation (r = 0.52; p = 0.02). Conclusion: The prevalence of UI symptoms in the sample had a slight negative effect on QOL; however, UI associated with older ages significantly affected the QOL of the studied volunteers.