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The relationship between urinary incontinence and abdominal muscle thickness in community-dwelling older women undergoing comprehensive geriatric assessment

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Key summary points

AbstractSection Aim

We examined the relationship between urinary incontinence in older women and abdominal muscle thickness assessed by muscle ultrasound.

AbstractSection Findings

Rectus abdominis muscle thickness was lower in patients with UI than in women patients without UI, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001).

AbstractSection Message

RA muscle thickness was independently associated with UI in older women which may reflect pelvic floor muscle mass and function. Hence, it is recommended that the rehabilitation of abdominal muscles may be part of the rehabilitation-training programs for UI.

Abstract

Purpose

Urinary incontinence (UI) is one of the most common geriatric syndromes in older adults, especially in women. The aim of this study is to show the relationship between urinary incontinence and abdominal muscle thickness measured by muscle ultrasonography (US) in community-dwelling older women adults.

Methods

Eighty-seven community-dwelling older women participated in our study. The presence and the type of UI were recorded. Clinical and demographic characteristics were collected, and a comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed on all participants. Abdominal muscle layer thicknesses were evaluated with muscle US.

Results

The prevalence of UI was 55.2% (n = 48) of the study population. The median [IQR] age of the patients in the UI group was 73.0 [69.0–77.5] years and it was 69.0 [67.0–73.0] years in patients without UI (p = 0.007). Abdominal muscle thicknesses were measured smaller in patients with UI than those without UI except for internal oblique muscle thickness. The median [IQR] rectus abdominis muscle thickness was lower in patients with UI than in patients without UI, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.003). RA muscle was associated with UI regardless of age, polypharmacy, malnutrition, and frailty (OR: 0.58; 95% CI 0.38–0.89; p = 0.01).

Conclusions

We have shown that UI was independently related to the rectus abdominis muscle thickness, which may reflect the function and mass of the pelvic floor muscles.

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Data availability

The data supporting this study’s findings are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Hacettepe University, 06230, Altındağ, Ankara, Turkey

    Zeynep Sahiner, Merve Güner, Serdar Ceylan, Merve Hafizoglu, Didem Karaduman, Cansu Atbas, Arzu Okyar Bas, Yasemin Polat Özer, Cafer Balcı, Burcu Balam Dogu, Meltem Halil & Mustafa Cankurtaran

  2. Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Naside Mangır

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  1. Zeynep Sahiner
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Sahiner, Z., Mangır, N., Güner, M. et al. The relationship between urinary incontinence and abdominal muscle thickness in community-dwelling older women undergoing comprehensive geriatric assessment. Eur Geriatr Med 14, 1319–1325 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-023-00874-y

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