Login to Access Video or Poster Abstract: MP31-08
Sources of Funding: None

Introduction

A higher prevalence of urinary incontinence has been reported in women with low bone mineral density (BMD). However, there are conflicting reports in the literature regarding whether stress or urgency incontinence predominates in this population. We examined the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to investigate the association of osteoporosis and different types of urinary incontinence.

Methods

A retrospective review of all female subjects in the NHANES database between 2009-2010 was performed. Bone mineral density data was reviewed, along with the subjects' responses to questions regarding stress and urgency urinary incontinence. Osteoporosis is defined as BMD of 2.5 SD below the mean peak bone mass of young, healthy adults. Analysis took into account the hidden variance and the weighting methodology pertinent to analysis of NHANES. A variety of clinical confounders, such as age, ethnicity, smoking, number of vaginal deliveries and body mass index were also collected. Descriptive statistics were calculated and a multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the association of BMD with urinary incontinence.

Results

Overall, 95,886,461 individuals were included with a diverse racial background including 64.2% non-Hispanic white, 12.7 % non-Hispanic black and 9.8% Mexican American. The mean age was 47.03 (SE=0.4). The prevalence of osteoporosis was 0.4% and 3.2% among non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white individuals, respectively. Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) were present in 33.6% and 35.5% of osteoporotic women, respectively. After adjusting for potential covariates, osteoporosis was found to be significantly associated with SUI (OR 1.5, confidence interval 1.1-2.3). No significant independent association was found between osteoporosis and UUI.

Conclusions

In the large, administrative NHANES dataset, we identified an independent association of osteoporosis with SUI in a diverse cohort of women. As connective tissue weakness is considered an underlying etiology for both osteoporosis and SUI, this study may serve as a guide for future investigation of the basic underlying mechanism.

Funding

None