Mayo Clinic Health Manager

Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.

Get Started

Free

E-Newsletter

Subscribe to receive the latest updates on health topics. About our newsletters

  • Housecall
  • Alzheimer's caregiving
  • Living with cancer

Risk factors

By Mayo Clinic staff

These factors increase your risk of developing urinary incontinence:

  • Sex. Women are more likely than men are to have stress incontinence. Pregnancy, childbirth, menopause and normal female anatomy account for this difference. However, men with prostate gland problems are at increased risk of urge and overflow incontinence.
  • Age. As you get older, the muscles in your bladder and urethra lose some of their strength. Changes with age reduce how much your bladder can hold and increase the chances of involuntary urine release. However, getting older doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have incontinence. Incontinence isn't normal at any age — except during infancy.
  • Being overweight. Being obese or overweight increases the pressure on your bladder and surrounding muscles, which weakens them and allows urine to leak out when you cough or sneeze.
  • Smoking. A chronic cough associated with smoking can cause episodes of incontinence or aggravate incontinence that has other causes. Constant coughing puts stress on your urinary sphincter, leading to stress incontinence. Smokers are also at risk of developing overactive bladder.
  • Other diseases. Kidney disease or diabetes may increase your risk for incontinence.
Complications Causes
References
  1. Urge urinary incontinence/overactive bladder. National Association for Continence. http://www.nafc.org/bladder-bowel-health/types-of-incontinence/urge-incontinence. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  2. Non-surgical treatment for female stress urinary incontinence. National Association for Continence. http://www.nafc.org/bladder-bowel-health/types-of-incontinence/stress-incontinence/non-surgical-treatment-for-female-stress-urinary-incontinence. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  3. DuBeau CE. Treatment of urinary incontinence. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  4. Herbruck LF. Stress urinary incontinence: An overview of diagnosis and treatment options. Urology Nursing. 2008;28:186.
  5. Cartwright R, et al. Current management of overactive bladder. Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2008;20:489.
  6. Urinary incontinence. National Institute on Aging. http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/urinary.htm. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  7. Seeking treatment. National Association for Continence. http://www.nafc.org/seeking-treatment. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  8. Interstitial cystitis/Painful bladder syndrome. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/interstitialcystitis. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  9. How medications affect your bladder. National Association for Continence. http://www.nafc.org/bladder-bowel-health/types-of-incontinence/urge-incontinence/medications. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  10. Facts and statistics. National Association for Continence. http://www.nafc.org/media/media-kit/facts-statistics. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  11. Urinary incontinence: What every man should know. National Association for Continence. http://www.nafc.org/bladder-bowel-health/what-is-incontinence/what-every-man-should-know. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  12. What I need to know about prostate problems. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/prostate_ez/#prostatitis. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  13. Urinary incontinence in women. National Association for Continence. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/uiwomen/index.htm#evaluation. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  14. Cystoscopy and ureteroscopy. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/cystoscopy. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  15. Peterson JA. Minimize urinary incontinence: Maximize physical activity in women. Urology Nursing. 2008;28:351.
  16. Karsenty G, et al. Botulinum toxin A (Botox) intradetrusor injections in adults with neurogenic detrusor overactivity/neurogenic overactive bladder: A systematic literature review. European Association of Urology. 2008;53:275.
  17. Artificial urinary sphincter. National Association for Continence. http://www.nafc.org/uploads///pdf/educational%20brochures/OnlineAUS.pdf. Accessed May 17, 2009.
  18. Surgery for urinary incontinence. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp166.cfm. Accessed May 17, 2009.
  19. Surgical treatment for female stress urinary incontinence. National Association for Continence. http://www.nafc.org/bladder-bowel-health/types-of-incontinence/stress-incontinence/surgical-treatment-for-female-stress-urinary-incontinence. Accessed May 17, 2009.
  20. Khan F, et al. Surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 17, 2009.
  21. Cespedes RD. Is injection therapy for stress urinary incontinence dead? No. Urology. 2009;73:11.
  22. Christofi N, et al. An evidence-based approach to lifestyle interventions in urogynaecology. Menopause International. 2007;13:154.

DS00404

June 27, 2009

© 1998-2009 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "EmbodyHealth," "Reliable tools for healthier lives," "Enhance your life," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Print Share Reprints

Text Size: smaller largerlarger