Urinary incontinence: prevalence and general awareness across genders
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20262545Keywords:
Awareness, Gender differences, Prevalence, Public health, Quality of life, Urinary incontinenceAbstract
Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common condition affecting individuals across the genders and can significantly impact their quality of life (QoL). Although it is highly prevalent, awareness regarding UI still remains limited. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of UI and assess its general level of awareness among both male and female participants.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using a Google form-based questionnaire, distributed via email and social media. The questionnaire included sections on demographic information, medical history and evaluation of the presence and severity of UI was done by using International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF). It also contained questions related to general awareness about UI. A total of 171 participants responded to the survey.
Results: Among the reported participants, 57.3% were females and 42.6% were males. The overall prevalence of UI found to be 18.7%, with a higher occurrence in females (15.2%) as compared to males (3.5%). Although some participants demonstrated basic awareness, the overall general level of awareness regarding UI was moderate to low. A considerable number of respondents were unaware of available treatment options and commonly perceived UI as a normal consequence of aging rather than a treatable medical condition.
Conclusions: The study found that UI is prevalent among the general population, particularly among females, along with a significant gap in general awareness regarding UI. These findings highlight that there is a need for targeted educational interventions and promotion of public awareness programs so that timely healthcare-seeking behaviours can be facilitated.
References
Buckley BS, Lapitan MC. Prevalence of urinary incontinence in men, women, and children- current evidence: findings of the Fourth International Consultation on Incontinence. Urology. 2010;76(2):265-70.
Abu Raddaha AH, Nasr EH. Kegel exercise training program among women with urinary incontinence. In Healthcare 2022;10(12):2359.
Frigerio M, Barba M, Cola A, Braga A, Celardo A, Munno GM, et al. Quality of life, psychological wellbeing, and sexuality in women with urinary incontinence- where are we now: a narrative review. Medicina. 2022;58(4):525.
Haylen BT, De Ridder D, Freeman RM, Swift SE, Berghmans B, Lee J, et al. An International Urogynecological Association (IUGA)/International Continence Society (ICS) joint report on the terminology for female pelvic floor dysfunction. Neurourol Urodynam. 2010;29(1):4-20.
Aoki Y, Brown HW, Brubaker L, Cornu JN, Daly JO, Cartwright R. Urinary incontinence in women. Nat Rev Dis Prim. 2017;3(1):1-20.
Sönmez TG, Uğraş E, Şahin EG, Fidanci I, Aksoy H, Başer DA. The prevalence of incontinence and its impact on quality of life. Medicine. 2024;103(52):e41108.
Nitti VW. The prevalence of urinary incontinence. Rev Urol. 2001;3(Suppl 1):S2.
Mostafaei H, Sadeghi‐Bazargani H, Hajebrahimi S, Salehi‐Pourmehr H, Ghojazadeh M, Onur R, et al. Prevalence of female urinary incontinence in the developing world: a systematic review and meta‐analysis- a report from the Developing World Committee of the International Continence Society and Iranian Research Center for Evidence Based Medicine. Neurourol Urodynam. 2020;39(4):1063-86.
Minassian VA, Drutz HP, Al-Badr A. Urinary incontinence as a worldwide problem. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2003;82(3):327-38.
Altman D, Lapitan MC, Nelson R, Sillen U, Thom D. Epidemiology of Urinary (UI) and Faecal (FI) Incontinence and Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP). Available from: https://ics-eus.org/Publications/ ICI_4/files-book/comite-1.pdf. Accessed on 11 April 2026.
Shamliyan TA, Wyman JF, Ping R, Wilt TJ, Kane RL. Male urinary incontinence: prevalence, risk factors, and preventive interventions. Rev Urol. 2009;11(3):145.
Leslie SW, Tran LN, Puckett Y. Urinary Incontinence. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2026.
Kirillovich M, Rajabali S, Wagg A. Exploring the priorities of older adults in managing urinary incontinence: a patient-oriented research approach. Can Geriatr J. 2024;27(4):473.
Adidravid A, Jadhav T, Jerome A. To determine the awareness and attitude towards urinary incontinence in male diabetics. Int J Health Sci Res. 2024;14(4).
Garg P, Goyal LD, Goyal S, Verma M. Utility of opportunistic screening to assess the impact of urinary incontinence on quality of life and barriers to seeking treatment among women attending a tertiary healthcare centre in North India. BMC Urol. 2024;24(1):50.
Eysenbach G. Improving the quality of web surveys: the checklist for reporting results of internet e-surveys (CHERRIES). J Med Internet Res. 2004;6(3):e34.
Skorupska K, Kamińska A. Advantages and disadvantages of commonly used urinary incontinence questionnaires- how to correctly choose questionnaire in urinary incontinence diagnosis? J Clin Med. 2025;14(22):8196.
Avery K, Donovan J, Peters TJ, Shaw C, Gotoh M, Abrams P. ICIQ: a brief and robust measure for evaluating the symptoms and impact of urinary incontinence. Neurourol Urodynam. 2004;23(4):322-30.
Klovning A, Avery K, Sandvik H, Hunskaar S. Comparison of two questionnaires for assessing the severity of urinary incontinence: the ICIQ‐UI SF versus the incontinence severity index. Neurourol Urodynam. 2009;28(5):411-5.
Soni R, Bindra S. Prevalence of urinary incontinence in women. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2023;10:2185-91.
Singh U, Agarwal P, Verma ML, Dalela D, Singh N, Shankhwar P. Prevalence and risk factors of urinary incontinence in Indian women: a hospital-based survey. Indian J Urol. 2013;29(1):31-6.
Yang X, Wang X, Gao Z, Li L, Lin H, Wang Het al. The anatomical pathogenesis of stress urinary incontinence in women. Medicina. 2022;59(1):5.
Trost L, Elliott DS. Male stress urinary incontinence: a review of surgical treatment options and outcomes. Adv Urol. 2012;2012(1):287489.
Cheng MC, Liu SP, Chuang YC, Hsu KC, Chow PM. Prevalence and impacts of male urinary incontinence on quality of life, mental health, work limitation, and health care seeking in China, Taiwan, and South Korea (LUTS Asia): Results from a cross-sectional, population-based study. Investig Clin Urol. 2021;63(1):71.
Mahishale A, Ambre P, Kantanavar KA. Prevalence of urinary incontinence in males with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Metab Syndr Clin Res Rev. 2019;13(5):2953-6.
Nandy S, Ranganathan S. Urge incontinence. In:StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2022.
Verhovsky G, Baberashvili I, Rappaport YH, Zilberman DE, Neheman A, Gal J, et al. Bladder oversensitivity is associated with bladder outlet obstruction in men. J Personalized Med. 2022;12(10):1675.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
