Prospective questionnaire-based evaluation of the prevalence of urinary incontinence in women with chronic cough.

Overview

PURPOSE: Because chronic cough leads to repeated increases in intra-abdominal pressure, it might cause or unmask stress urinary incontinence (SUI). To test this hypothesis, we performed a cross-sectional prospective survey of women with chronic cough and female subjects without cough symptoms. METHODS: A group of women with chronic cough (n = 297) presenting at a specialty asthma/allergy clinic over an 18-month period and a control group (n = 106) completed a self-administered survey that included the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI)-6 questionnaire and a global quality of life (QOL) question. Subjects on medication for bladder symptoms (n = 14) or who had undergone prior anti-incontinence surgery (n = 29) were excluded. RESULTS: 263 patients and 97 control subjects met criteria for analysis. Chronic cough patients were older than control subjects (median 41 versus 35 years; p < 0.001). There was no difference in weight between groups (p = 0.544). The UDI-6 question responses correlated with each other and with the responses to the QOL questions (p values