Black women have less than half the chance of developing urinary incontinence as do white women, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System. Unfortunately though, when black women do suffer incontinence, the condition tends to be worse than in white women. The amount of urine they lose during each episode of incontinence is larger, with half of black incontinent women reporting that they lose urine to the point of noticeably wetting their underwear or a pad, compared with a third of white women.
Interestingly, the medical community has long maintained that black women don't experience a type of urinary incontinence known as "stress incontinence," in which urine is lost during activities such as exercising, coughing and laughing. But the study, in the Journal of Urology found that black women do experience stress incontinence.
"This is a population that may have been neglected because it was believed for so long that black women did not have stress urinary incontinence," says researcher Dee E. Fenner. "In truth, black women suffer from the social embarrassment of urinary incontinence, and the medical community needs to remember this when diagnosing and treating all women."
The study also found that:
- About 27 percent of all women surveyed had the condition.
- About 15 percent of black women and 33 percent of white women have urinary incontinence.
- Black women with incontinence reported having stress incontinence in about 25 percent of instances, compared with 39 percent of white women.
- Black women with incontinence reported urge incontinence in 24 percent of cases, compared with 11 percent of white women. The remaining numbers had a combination of both types.
- The women in the study ranged from 35 to 64 years old, with an average age of 42. Most of the women - nearly 70 percent - had delivered at least one baby vaginally; vaginal deliveries are often associated with urinary incontinence.
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Source: University of Michigan Health System
