Persistent stress urinary incontinence during pregnancy and one year after delivery; its prevalence, risk factors and impact on quality of life in Taiwanese women: An observational cohort study

Objective: The study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and its impact on the quality of life during pregnancy and 12 months after delivery. Materials and methods: 866 women delivering their newborns at a tertiary hospital were recruited. All women were asked to complete several questionnaires including demographic and obstetric data, Short Form 12 health survey (SF-12), Urogenital Distress Inventory Short Form (UDI-6), and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire Short Form (IIQ-7). All women were interviewed via telephone to answer the same questionnaires at 12 months postpartum. Results: There were 446 (51.5%) self-reported SUI women during pregnancy. Out of 560 women delivered vaginally, 70 (12.5%) had SUI at 12 months postpartum; in 306 women undergoing Cesarean delivery, 22 (7.2%) experienced SUI 12 months after delivery. Risk factors of SUI during pregnancy included body weight and body mass index at first visit. At 12 months postpartum, parity stood out as the risk factor of persistent SUI in vaginal delivery group, but no significant risk factor was found in Cesarean group. Women with SUI during pregnancy featured worse mental component summary (MCS) score of SF-12, compared to women without SUI. At 12 months postpartum, women with persistent SUI in vaginal delivery group had higher mean UDI-6 and IIQ-7 scores than those without SUI. Conclusion: Persistent SUI is more prevalent in the vaginal delivery group than Cesarean group. Both SUI during pregnancy and after childbirth have negative impact on the quality of life in women undergoing vaginal delivery.