Which type of female urinary incontinence has more impact on pelvic floor and sexual function in addition to anxiety and depression symptoms: A questionnaire-based study

Purpose: To evaluate pelvic floor and sexual dysfunction, and anxiety and depression symptoms in females with different urinary incontinence (UI) types.

Materials and methods: A cross sectional evaluation was made of 73 patients diagnosed with UI in the Urology Clinic between December 2021 and November 2022. In addition to demographic data, the points were recorded from the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (ICIQ-FLUTS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 (PFDI-20).

Results: The mean age of the patients was 38.3 ± 3.7 years. Incontinence types of the patients were determined as 42% urgency urinary incontinence (UUI), 30.1% stress urgency incontinence (SUI), and 27.4% mixed type urinary incontinence (MUI). Anxiety symptoms were determined in 20.5% and depression symptoms in 41.1% of all the patients. The median ICIQ-FLUTS score was determined to be significantly higher in the MUI patients than in the other types [25.5 (MUI) vs. 17 (SUI), p = 0.007; 16 (UUI), p = 0.001]. The median FSFI and HADS scores were seen to be similar in all the UI types (p = 0.1). The median PFDI-20 score was found to be higher in the MUI group than in the UUI group (126.5 vs. 88.5, p = 0.02).

Conclusion: The sexual dysfunction and psychological symptoms were found to be similar in the patients according to UI type. The MUI patients were seen to have more incontinence symptoms compared to the other types and experienced more pelvic floor dysfunction than patients with UUI.