Urogenital symptoms in women aged 50-59 years

Problems related to the urogenital tract are common in elderly women. Contr ol of micturition is often impeded and questionnaire-based studies have rep orted a prevalence of poor control of micturition in about 30% of postmenop ausal women. In an ongoing cohort comprising women born between 1935 and 1945, an interi m analysis was performed in 1800 women based on an interview and questionna ire. The prevalence of urinary incontinence was found to be 33%, which is i n accordance with previous reports. The main difference between the intervi ew and the questionnaire was that the interview could take into account int ensity as well as intermittence of symptoms. There were no differences betw een premenopausal women and postmenopausal women using or not using hormone replacement therapy. In agreement with earlier studies, we found poorer co ntrol micturition in parous women. A higher percentage of incontinence was also found in women who had lost more than 5 kg in body weight during the p receding 5 years. In addition, women with a family history of diabetes, 66 were incontinent (p < 0.001). It was also found that women who were inconti nent were more often on regular surveillance for various diseases, using mo re medications regularly and had been hospitalized during the last 5 years more often than women who were continent. There were no differences in smok ing habits. The present results imply that urinary incontinence in women is of a complicated origin and that the hormonal situation plays a minor role for this socially handicapping symptom.