Diabetes Increases Incontinence for Older Women

More than half of postmenopausal women have had a recent episode of urinary incontinence, according to new research, and the severity of symptoms increases with a history of diabetes.

Dr. Sara L. Jackson, stated that, "Women with diabetes were disproportionately more likely to report severe incontinence, difficulty controlling urination, mixed (stress and urge) incontinence, use of pads, inability to completely empty the bladder, being unaware of leakage, and discomfort with urination."

In a population-based study, Jackson, of the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues studied 1017 postmenopausal women aged 55 to 75 years. Of these, 218 women had diabetes.

Overall, 60 percent of women reported at least one episode of incontinence in the prior month. Of these, 8 percent had severe incontinence and 14 percent noted that difficulty controlling urination was a moderate or severe problem.

The women with diabetes were about twice as likely to experience severe incontinence.

Jackson pointed out that doctors caring for postmenopausal women with diabetes "may consider asking about this treatable condition, which a patient might be reluctant to volunteer spontaneously."

She added: "While our study was not a treatment trial, the relationship between diabetes, body mass index, and incontinence suggests another potential motivation to encourage weight loss among those at risk. Weight loss could potentially improve both diabetes and incontinence."
Diabetes Care, July 2005.