Identification of the relationships between the obesity and birth number with urinary incontinance in young women who had normal vaginal deliveries.

Incontinence is defined by International Continence Society (ICS) as involuntary abduction of urine in an inappropriate place and time. An important part of the patient population admitted to urology and gynecology clinics and physiotherapy departments suffer from the urinary incontinence (Öztaç, 2000a; Öztaç, 2000b).Although urinary incontinence is common in our society, it appears as a neglected health problem in our country. Therefore, our study is planned in order to determine the women who suffer from the urinary incontinence and women who do not apply to health centers since it is not accepted as a health problem. Also our study is aimed to increase their awareness and identify their perceptions towards the problem.For this purpose, 250 young women admitted to Dokuz Eylul University Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic and Urology Clinic between 1 February 2010 and 31 August 2010 who were under 40 years of age and had at least a normal vaginal delivery were surveyed. The research results obtained from the patients were evaluated using appropriate statistical methods in SPSS 18.0 package program. In addition, chi-square test was used to compare the descriptive statistical data.As a result of the study, 83 of the 250 patients were found to have urinary incontinence. Data from research indicated that urinary incontinence in women was associated with increased body mass index (BMI). The prevalence of urinary incontinence was found 42.9% (12/28) in those with less overweight patients, 30.5% (46/151) in those with normal weight, % 22 (11/50) in those with overweight and finally 66.7% (14/21) in those with obese, respectively. In the light of these findings, it was concluded that there was a correlation between BMI and urinary incontinence, and the prevalence of urinary incontinence increased with increasing BMI.On the other hand, data from research indicated that a stronger association existed between increasing birth number and urinary incontinence. The prevalence of urinary incontinence was found 26.8% (26/97) in women who had single vaginal delivery, % 36.4 (51/140) in those who had 2-3 vaginal deliveries and finally % 46.2 (6/13) in those who had 4 or more vaginal deliveries. Although there is not a statistically significant p value, it was found that the prevalence of incontinence was increased with the increasing number of vaginal deliveries.As a results of our study, prevalence of urinary incontinence was increased by the obesity and number of vajınal deliveries. It was concluded that both of two parameters are important risk factors for the development of urinary incontinance.