COMMUNITY-BASED PREVALENCE OF ANAL INCONTINENCE

Objective.-To determine the prevalence of and Characteristics associat ed with anal incontinence in the general community. Setting.-Community survey. Participants.-The population of the state of Wisconsin sample d in the Wisconsin Family Health Survey. Subjects were identified by r andom digit dialing with telephone interview. The individual within ea ch household identified as most knowledgeable about the health status of all other members of the household was asked about the health statu s of each member of the household. Approximately 200 households were s urveyed each month. Main Outcome Measures.-The presence of anal incont inence to solid or liquid feces or gas, who suffered from it, the freq uency of anal incontinence, and how the incontinent person coped with it. Results.-A total of 2570 households comprising 6959 individuals we re surveyed, and 153 individuals were reported to have anal incontinen ce, representing 2.2% of the population (95% confidence interval [Cl], +/-0.3%). Thirty percent of the incontinent subjects were older than 65 years, and 63% were women. Of those with anal incontinence, 36% wer e incontinent to solid feces, 54% to liquid feces, and 60% to gas, In a multivariate analysis, independent associations of the following ris k factors with anal incontinence were found: female sex (odds ratio [O R], 1.5, Cl, 1.1 to 2.1), age (continuously adjusted) (OR, 1.01; Cl, 1 .01 to 1.02), physical limitations (OR, 1.8; Cl, 1.2 to 2.7), and poor general health (OR, 1.6, Cl, 1.4 to 1.9). Conclusions.-Anal incontine nce was reported in 2.2% of the general population. Independent risk f actors for incontinence include female sex, advancing age, poor genera l health, and physical limitations.