Stress urinary incontinence 3 years after pregnancy: correlation to mode of delivery and parity

• Published in: International Urogynecology Journal Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 281 - 288
• Main Authors: Herrmann, Viviane, Scarpa, Katia, Palma, Paulo Cesar Rodrigues, Riccetto, Cassio Zanettini
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer-Verlag 01-03-2009; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Births; Cesarean Section - adverse effects; Cesarean Section - methods; Cohort Studies; Delivery, Obstetric - adverse effects; Delivery, Obstetric - methods; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Gynecology; Health Surveys; Humans; Incidence; Longitudinal Studies; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Parity; Pregnancy; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Urinary incontinence; Urinary Incontinence, Stress - epidemiology; Urinary Incontinence, Stress - etiology; Urology; Pregnancy; Stress urinary incontinence; Mode of delivery; Parity
• ISSN: 0937-3462; 1433-3023
• DOI: 10.1007/s00192-008-0767-8

The aim was to estimate the incidence of stress urinary incontinence 3 years after delivery and its correlation to mode of delivery and parity. A longitudinal cohort study was conducted with 120 women at the Antenatal Clinic at the State University of Campinas. There was a significant difference in the incidence of postpartum stress urinary incontinence (SUI) among patients with SUI during pregnancy (
p
 > 0.0001). Women that were asymptomatic during pregnancy and had vaginal delivery developed SUI 2.4 times more frequently than after c-section (19.2% and 8.0%, respectively). The incidence of SUI after delivery dropped significantly in the primiparous (
p
 = 0.0073) and multiparous 2–3 (
p
 < 0.0001), but not in the multiparous with four or more deliveries (66.7% to 60.0%) (
p
 = 0.5637). A significant correlation has been observed between parity and SUI (
p
 = 0.0299). Pregnancy possibly predisposes to SUI 3 years after delivery as well as parity. No significant correlation has been demonstrated between mode of delivery and SUI.