Prevalence of urinary leakage in nulliparous women with respect to physical activity and micturition habits

In order to survey the influence of physical activity and micturition habits on urinary leakage (UL) in women before their first pregnancy, a study including 725 women attending nine maternity clinics in the northwest area of Stockholm was performed. During the 36th gestational week the women answered a questionnaire regarding the pre-pregnancy situation regarding UL, micturition habits and physical activity. Thirty-nine percent of the women, mean age of 28 (range 17–43) years, had experienced occasional UL. Of these, the majority (79%) had symptoms of stress urinary leakage and 21% had urge symptoms. Two percent were incontinent according to the definition of the International Continence Society (ICS). In a multivariate analysis age, inability to interrupt the urine flow and high-impact physical activity turned out to be independent risk factors for UL and thus should be observed together with traditional factors concerning UL in nulliparous women.