Urinary incontinence and cardiovascular disease risk in women

Urinary incontinence, the loss of bladder control, is a common condition — especially in older adults — that research has suggested can affect between 38% and 60% of women. Now, a team of American researchers — from the University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Hartford Hospital — have found a possible association between urinary incontinence and a greater risk for cardiovascular disease in women.

The researchers had set out to discover whether urinary incontinence was linked to a decline in physical activity, such a decline that can lead to a host of health issues, including greater risk for cardiovascular disease. Led by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Assistant Professor Lisa VanWiel, more than two years of medical records from over 20,000 female patients in Connecticut’s Hartford Healthcare system were analysed.

Through a questionnaire, 5.4% of these female patients had reported urinary incontinence — all patients also being asked to rate their level of physical activity in the questionnaire. While those patients with urinary incontinence did not report engaging in less physical activity than those without the condition, the researchers did observe an association between the urinary incontinence patients and cardiovascular disease risk factors or events, such as dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and stroke.

“There is an association between incontinence and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk,” the researchers wrote. “Women should be screened for incontinence regularly as it may contribute to CVD risk, and women with CVD risk factors should be screened for undiagnosed incontinence.” The study — titled ‘Associations of urinary incontinence, physical activity and cardiovascular disease risk among women in the United States’ — was published in the May 2025 edition of Preventive Medicine (doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2025.108277).

16–22 June is World Continence Week. For more information and resources, visit www.continence.org.au/world-continence-week.

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