Weight Loss to Treat Urinary Incontinence in Overweight and Obese Women

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 360; no. 5; pp. 481 - 490
• Main Authors: Subak, Leslee L, Wing, Rena, West, Delia Smith, Franklin, Frank, Vittinghoff, Eric, Creasman, Jennifer M, Richter, Holly E, Myers, Deborah, Burgio, Kathryn L, Gorin, Amy A, Macer, Judith, Kusek, John W, Grady, Deborah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Waltham, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 29-01-2009
• Subjects: Behavior Therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Clinical trials; Combined Modality Therapy; Diet, Reducing; Exercise; Female; Gastrointestinal surgery; General aspects; Humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; Obesity; Obesity - complications; Obesity - therapy; Older people; Overweight - complications; Overweight - therapy; Risk factors; Urinary incontinence; Urinary Incontinence - complications; Urinary Incontinence - therapy; Urinary system involvement in other diseases. Miscellaneous; Urinary tract. Prostate gland; Weight control; Weight Loss; Women; Human; Obesity; Urinary system disease; Body weight; Nutrition disorder; Weight loss; Corporal biometry; Urinary tract disease; Overweight; Urinary incontinence; Medicine; Voiding dysfunction; Treatment; Adult; Female; Bladder disease; Woman; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0806375

Obesity is a modifiable risk factor for urinary incontinence. This study randomly assigned overweight and obese women with urinary incontinence to an intensive 6-month weight-loss program or to a structured education program. More intervention-group participants had clinically relevant reductions in the frequency of episodes of any incontinence, stress incontinence, and urge incontinence.
This study randomly assigned overweight and obese women with urinary incontinence to an intensive 6-month weight-loss intervention or to a structured education program. More intervention-group participants had clinically relevant reductions in the frequency of episodes of any incontinence, stress incontinence, and urge incontinence.
Urinary incontinence affects more than 13 million women in the United States and has been associated with profound adverse effects on quality of life
1
,
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; an increased risk of falls, fractures,
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and nursing-home admissions
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; and more than $20 billion in estimated annual direct health care costs.
5
Observational studies suggest that obesity is a strong risk factor for urinary incontinence,
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–
9
and preliminary studies suggest that weight loss may have a beneficial effect on urinary incontinence in obese patients.
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–
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Reductions in urinary incontinence have been observed in morbidly obese women who have had dramatic weight loss after bariatric . . .