Differences in urinary incontinence between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women in a population-based study.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The prevalence of moderate to severe UI, defined as Sandvik severity score of >or=3, was assessed in relation to ethnicity by stratification, age adjustment and logistic regression models among 250 Hispanic and 491 non-Hispanic White women in Colorado, USA, who were participants in a breast cancer case-control study.

RESULTS: Hispanic women reported more stress UI (odds ratio 1.7, P = 0.005) and mixed UI (odds ratio 1.8, P = 0.005) than did non-Hispanic White women. These higher prevalences were largely associated with ethnic differences in parity, body mass index, diabetes, hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy.

CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of moderate to severe UI in Colorado is higher among Hispanic women than among non-Hispanic white women. This difference is largely compatible with differences in reproductive history, adiposity and diabetes.