Difference in quality of life in women with urge urinary incontinence compared to women with stress urinary incontinence

Introduction  We evaluated whether women with urge urinary incontinence (UUI) have lower quality of life (QOL) than women with other forms of urinary incontinence. Methods  Patients completed three validated questionnaires when presenting for evaluation at a urogynecology practice and were divided into four groups based on their responses: those with symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), UUI, both SUI and UUI (mixed UI), and neither SUI nor UUI (controls). Results  A total of 465 women were included: 53 women with UUI (11.4%), 101 with SUI (21.7%), 200 with mixed UI (43%), and 111 controls (23.9%). Overall, there was a significant difference (p < 0.001) in PFIQ bladder scale scores as a function of UI group, with individual mean PFIQ scores of 17.1 for controls, 22.3 for SUI, 32.7 for UUI, and 36.8 for mixed UI. Individually, all seven questions in the PFIQ bladder domain were significantly different by group (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions  Women with UUI and mixed UI have lower QOL scores than women without incontinence or with only SUI. The project was approved by the IRB at Hartford Hospital.