Urinary Incontinence Symptoms and Correlation to Urodynamics: Does Age Matter?

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and correlation of urinary incontinence symptoms to diagnoses made on urodynamic testing among women older than 65 when compared to women less than age 65. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of patients with complaints of urinary incontinence between January, 2014 and August, 2016, who underwent urodynamic testing. The cohort was split by age over 65 versus those less than or equal to 65. Baseline demographics, and the prevalences of both urinary symptoms and diag-noses on urodynamic testing were compared. The proportion of patients with high pressure detrusor overactivity or a maximum detrusor pressure over 40 cm H2O and low pressure urethra, defined as a urethral closure pressure less than 28 cm H2O were also compared between groups. Results: Baseline demographics other than age did not differ between groups. Patients over 65 more often com-plained of urgency urinary incontinence while those less than 65 more commonly complained of stress urinary incontinence, post-micturition dribbling, and coital incontinence. There was no difference in the proportion of patients with insensible urine loss or nocturnal enuresis. When diagnoses were compared be-tween groups, there was no difference in the proportion of patients diagnosed with either detrusor overac-tivity or urodynamic stress incontinence. A significantly greater proportion of patients over 65, however, had both diagnoses. Nocturnal enuresis was associated with detrusor overactivity. There were no other sig-nificant correlations between individual symptoms and urodynamic diagnoses in either group. Conclusion: Patients over 65 complain more about urgency urinary incontinence, while patients under 65 complain about stress urinary incontinence, post-micturition dribbling, and coital incontinence. Patients over 65 also tend to have both detrusor overactivity and urodynamic stress incontinence on urodynamic testing when compared with patients less than 65.