Family history increases the risk of incontinence

Women are more likely to develop urinary incontinence if their mothers or older sisters are incontinent. Hannestad and colleagues (p 889) followed up more than 15 000 women from Norway enrolled in the EPINCONT study and found that the risk of incontinence was 1.3-fold if their mother had incontinence and 1.6-fold if an older sister had incontinence. These women were also at greater risk of stress incontinence and mixed incontinence.

Figure 1.

Credit: BRAD WILSON/PHOTONICA