M. A. da Câmara S1, Caroline de Assunção Cortez Corrêa L1, Taurino Guedes D1, M. Pirkle C2, Yan Wu Y2, Vafaei A3, Curcio C-L4
1Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Faculty of Health Sciences of Trairi, Santa Cruz, Brazil, 2University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Public Health Studies, Manoa, United States, 3Lakehead University, Departmentof Health Sciences, Toronto, Canada, 4Caldas University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Manizeles, Colombia
Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) is estimated to affect approximately 25% of older women based on epidemiological studies of large representative samples. Age-related decline in muscle strength and physical function in older women is directly associated with UI. However, few studies examine the inverse relationship, UI contributing negatively to physical performanceIt is possible that the social, physical and psychological impacts caused by UIcontribute to physical inactivity in women and thus, decline in physical performance.
Purpose: The objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of urinary incontinence (UI) on physical performance.
Methods: In prospective analyses from the International Mobility in Aging Study (IMIAS), 915 women (65-74 years) from Canada, Colombia, Albania, and Brazil were evaluated in relation to self-reported UI (past week) and physical performance (Short Physical Performance Battery [SPPB]), with reevaluation after 2 years. Linear mixed models examined the influence of UI on SPPB, adjusted by covariates (age, study site, education, income sufficiency, body mass index [BMI] and parity).
Results: According to our results, UI is associated to physical performance in a sample of older women from different settings, and also prospectively predicts physical performance decline over the course of two years. The prevalence of UI in the sample ranged from 11.4% to 30.9%; it was lowest in Natal and highest in Kingston. Those reporting no UI in 2014 presented, on average, higher SPPB scores in 2014 (p=0.09) and 2016 (p 0.001) compared to those reporting some UI.Women reporting some UI presented lower SPPB mean (β = −0.41, p = .009) and a greater reduction (β = −0.53, p = .001) over 2 years than those reporting no UI.
Conclusion(s): Compared with no reported UI, some UI was associated with worse and more pronounced declines in physical performance over 2 years. This study highlights the importance of practices to reduce UI to contribute to healthier aging.
Implications: Our findings help elucidate sex-specific factors associated with the agerelated decline in physical performance and contributes to a better understanding of issues influencing women's physical performance as they age and highlights the importance of health promotion practices to reduce the incidence of UI on this population, thus contributing to a healthier aging.
Keywords: physical performance, urinary incontinence, aging
Funding acknowledgements: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant 108751) and the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (R21TW010466).
Purpose: The objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of urinary incontinence (UI) on physical performance.
Methods: In prospective analyses from the International Mobility in Aging Study (IMIAS), 915 women (65-74 years) from Canada, Colombia, Albania, and Brazil were evaluated in relation to self-reported UI (past week) and physical performance (Short Physical Performance Battery [SPPB]), with reevaluation after 2 years. Linear mixed models examined the influence of UI on SPPB, adjusted by covariates (age, study site, education, income sufficiency, body mass index [BMI] and parity).
Results: According to our results, UI is associated to physical performance in a sample of older women from different settings, and also prospectively predicts physical performance decline over the course of two years. The prevalence of UI in the sample ranged from 11.4% to 30.9%; it was lowest in Natal and highest in Kingston. Those reporting no UI in 2014 presented, on average, higher SPPB scores in 2014 (p=0.09) and 2016 (p 0.001) compared to those reporting some UI.Women reporting some UI presented lower SPPB mean (β = −0.41, p = .009) and a greater reduction (β = −0.53, p = .001) over 2 years than those reporting no UI.
Conclusion(s): Compared with no reported UI, some UI was associated with worse and more pronounced declines in physical performance over 2 years. This study highlights the importance of practices to reduce UI to contribute to healthier aging.
Implications: Our findings help elucidate sex-specific factors associated with the agerelated decline in physical performance and contributes to a better understanding of issues influencing women's physical performance as they age and highlights the importance of health promotion practices to reduce the incidence of UI on this population, thus contributing to a healthier aging.
Keywords: physical performance, urinary incontinence, aging
Funding acknowledgements: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant 108751) and the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (R21TW010466).
Topic: Older people
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
Ethics committee: Research Ethics Committee
Ethics number: 623/11
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
