Sexual Function in Woman with Urinary Incontinence: A Cross-Sectional Study from Iran

Abstract

Abstract Ob jective: Urinary incontinence is a co mmon problem throughout the world that affects wo men fro m all cultures, ages and ethnic groups. This study aimed to assess the impact of different type of urinary incontinence on sexual function. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed fro m April 2012 to October 2012 among wo men co mplaining of urinary incontinence who were referred to a large teaching hospital, in Teh ran, Iran. Sexual function was measured with Pelvic organ pro lapse/ urinary incontinence sexual questionnaire (PISQ). Urinary incontinence was determined with Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnose (QUID). Participants were divided into three groups of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge urinary incontinence (UUI) and mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) and then sexual function was compared among these groups. Results: In all, 400 wo men were entered into the study. Among the whole participants, 223 patients (55.8%) co mplained of SUI, 97 patients (24.2%) of UUI and 80 patients (20%) of M UI. There was significant association between sexual function and type of urinary incontinence (P<0.001). Mixed urinary incontinence had a greater disruptive effect on sexual function compared to other groups. Among other groups, scores in UUI group were lower than SUI. Higher age groups had lower sexual function scores and there were significant differences among age g roups (P<0.001). The results obtained from mu ltip le logistic regression analysis showed that the most significant contributing factor to total PISQ scores was age. Conclusions: The findings fro m th is study suggest that UI affect sexual function and that MUI has a greater effect on sexual function than the other two types of incontinence