Prevalence study of stress urinary incontinence in women who perform high-impact exercises

• Published in: International Urogynecology Journal Vol. 23; no. 12; pp. 1687 - 1691
• Main Authors: Fozzatti, Celina, Riccetto, Cassio, Herrmann, Viviane, Brancalion, Maria Fernanda, Raimondi, Marina, Nascif, Caio H., Marques, Luiza R., Palma, Paulo P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer-Verlag 01-12-2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Body Mass Index; Exercise; Female; Gynecology; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Urinary Incontinence, Stress - etiology; Urology; High impact exercises; Stress urinary incontinence
• ISSN: 0937-3462; 1433-3023
• DOI: 10.1007/s00192-012-1786-z

Introduction
Stress urinary incontinence is a frequent complaint in medical offices and studies have shown that women who practice high impact sports develop its symptoms.
Objective
To evaluate the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence in women who attend gyms and perform high impact exercises and correlate it with women who do not attend gyms.
Method
Prospective comparative study in which 488 nulliparous women of normal weight were divided into a Study Group, composed of women who attended gyms, and a Comparative Group, composed of women who did not attend gyms. Three questionnaires were used for the evaluation of stress urinary incontinence and the results of the ICIQ-SF questionnaire were used to compare the groups.
Results
There was a significant difference between groups on the ICIQ-SF. The average in the Study Group was 1.68 (+ 3.46) and in the Comparative Group the average was 1.02 (+ 2.69) (
p 
= 0.006).
Conclusion
Women who attend gym and perform high impact exercises have a higher prevalence of urinary incontinence symptoms, independent of the exercise modality, than women who do not perform any high impact exercise.