Previous research into urinary incontinence has found that women aged between 45 and 55 years old are the most common sufferers. As this age coincides with the onset of menopause in most women, researchers have often put the two together. An increase in incontinence in middle-aged women can be explained medically, as the body undergoes some urinary tract changes due to the loss of oestrogen in the body during menopause.
However, this new study, which was conducted by Dr. L. Elaine Waetjen and her colleagues from the University of California, Davis, proves otherwise.
During the study, researchers analysed data from 2,415 women between the ages of 45 and 55 who reported monthly or more regular episodes of incontinence during study enrolment and for the first six annual follow-up visits of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, which took place from 1995 to 2002.
The research team defined worsening incontinence as cases that showed an increase in the frequency, whereas improving incontinence was defined as a case that demonstrated a decrease in the frequency. Researchers assessed the menopausal status of women who were not on hormone therapy by asking them questions about their menstrual bleeding patterns.
The research indicated that 14.7 per cent of incontinent women overall reported that their incontinence worsened over the 6 year period of the study. However, 32.4 per cent of women in the study reported some improvement in their incontinence, and around 52.9 per cent of women reported no change in the frequency of their symptoms.
The study found that the transition women undergo through menopause did not have a significant impact on the severity of their incontinence symptoms. However, the research did indicate that weight gain, which often plagues women as they get older, showed a strong association with worsening incontinence.
After studying the findings of their research, Dr Waetjen and her colleagues concluded, “Many women and clinicians have believed urinary incontinence to be a symptom attributable to the menopausal transition, but our results suggest that the transition...has either no effect or possibly a weak positive effect on changes in the frequency of incontinence symptoms in midlife women.”
