Prevalence of urinary incontinence among women in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: Urinary inconti-nence is defined as involuntary loss of urine, a common health condition that is more frequent in women. It disturbs the affected individuals and interferes with their daily activities. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of uri-nary incontinence among Saudi women in the western area of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used for this study. A survey was administered to Saudi women in the western area of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranging in age from 18 to 70 years. The data were collected using the Arabic version of the Ques-tionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis. De-scriptive statistics were generated by calculating numbers and percentages of information on the prevalence of incontinence in women. p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.RESULTS: The prevalence of urinary inconti-nence was 44.2%, with the urge type being the most reported. Stress urinary incontinence was reported by 155 women (15.4%), urgency urinary incontinence by 257 women (25.6%), and mixed urinary incontinence by 102 women (10.15%).CONCLUSIONS: Urinary incontinence is prev-alent in women in Western Saudi Arabia. Age, multiparty obesity, and vaginal surgery are sig-nificant risk factors influencing its occurrence.