ABSTRACT

Aims of the study:

to estimate the prevalence of urinary and anal incontinence and their impact on women’s quality of life, and to identify the constitutional and obstetric factors significantly related to urinary and anal incontinence.

Materials and methods:

Data were collected from a cohort of 960 nulliparae (full term delivery 37-42 weeks). Each woman was evaluated both at 2-3 days post-partum and at three months follow-up with: the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) and Wexner’s CGS continent grading system.

Results:

161 women revealed persistent urinary incontinence, 121 women persistent anal incontinence and 43 women both conditions together. Concerning constitutional risk factors, positive family history of incontinence and incontinence before and during pregnancy were significantly related to urinary and anal incontinence 3 months post-partum. For obstetric factors the vaginal delivery is a strong risk factors for UI.

Conclusions:

Many constitutional variables were found to be significantly related to both faecal and urinary incontinence. The vaginal delivery is undoubtedly the more important and recognized obstetrical risk factor for urinary incontinence, while the caesarean delivery did not assume any protective role in the development of anal incontinence