Demographic, health conditions, and lifestyle factors associated with urinary incontinence in elderly from Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and factors associated with urinary incontinence in the elderly population of Florianópolis, in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. METHODS We used data from EpiFloripa Idoso 2009/2010 survey, a cross-sectional population-based study including 1,705 elderly of both the sexes. Poisson's regression (crude and adjusted analysis) was applied to verify the association between the urinary incontinence outcome and exploratory variables (sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health conditions). RESULTS Among the elderly, 29.4% reported urinary incontinence; 36.3% were women and 17.0% men. The factors associated with greater prevalence of urinary incontinence were being female, aged more than 70 years old, having 0 to 4 schooling years, being insufficiently active, having bronchitis or asthma, stroke or cerebral ischemia, presenting mild or moderate/severe dependence, and polypharmacy. CONCLUSION The prevalence of urinary incontinence was high among the investigated elderly. Sociodemographic variables and those related to lifestyle and health conditions were associated with higher prevalence of urinary incontinence. Knowledge of the factors associated with urinary incontinence in aged individuals can guide actions to reduce and prevent this important issue, which affects the elderly.