[Prevalence and impact on quality of life of urinary incontinence in an adult population with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, literature review].

INTRODUCTION: Patients with obstructive lung diseases (OLD) are at-risk population for urinary incontinence (UI) with high frequency of increased intra-abdominal pressure because of chronic cough symptoms.

AIM OF THE STUDY: This review is aimed at determining the prevalence of UI and its impact on quality of life, patient healthcare research, diagnosis and treatment of UI among this population.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: Literature review from January 2001 to 2018 on Medline (PubMed) using keywords urinary incontinence, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, cystic fibrosis, quality of life.

RESULTS: The largest study showed that in a population of 14,828 people, whose 995 were diagnosed COPD, UI prevalence was 34.9% in people with COPD, versus 27.3% among the general population of the study (P=0.0048). Results in the other studies of the review were similar. UI was more severe in OLD patients and occurred on young subjects. Stress urinary incontinence symptoms were predominant, during cough but also during spirometry and chest rehabilitation sessions. Despite an impact on quality of life and treatment of OLD, UI was neglected.

CONCLUSION: UI prevalence seemed higher on population with OLD, to a greater degree of severity. Quality of life self-evaluation was further decreased when UI was associated with pulmonary disease.