Self-report function and disability: A comparison between women with and without urgency urinary incontinence

Purpose: To compare self-reported function and disability between women with urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) and healthy controls. Method: Self-reported function and disability were evaluated using the Late Life Function and Disability Instrument (LLFDI) in 66 women with UUI (mean age 61.9 ± 5.6) and 66 age-matched control women without UUI in a cross-sectional study. The function component evaluates difficulty in performing physical activities in upper and lower extremities and the disability component evaluates limitations in life activities and frequency in taking part in life tasks. Body Mass Index (BMI), self-report incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QoL) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) that indicate the degree to which the bladder problems limited the subject's daily life activity were also evaluated. Results: The LLFDI scores in overall function, basic and advanced lower limb function, were significantly lower in women with UUI compared with continent women, while the upper extremity function and disability components were not. There was significant negative correlation between BMI and function scores in women with UUI. Conclusion: Our results support the assumptions that the women with UUI are likely to show poorer lower extremity physical functioning and that disability is a multifactorial combination of behavioral, psychological and environmental factors, and not functional limitations per se. Implications for Rehabilitation Intervention targeting lower extremity physical functioning might increase physical ability; this may reduce the frequency of urgency urinary incontinence episodes in middle age women. Targeting weight loss is of importance when planning rehabilitation in urgency urinary incontinence women. Women with urgency urinary incontinence are less likely to show poorer disability scores.