Prevalence of urinary incontinence in nulliparous Indian sportswomen.

Introduction: A common gynaecological problem among women that leads to a negative impact on quality of life and causes distress is the involuntary loss of urine which is addressed as urinary incontinence (UI). Females involved in playing various types of sports perform high-intensity activities which can serve as risk factors for UI and pelvic organ prolapse. According to the available literature, there is a scarcity of information regarding data on the prevalence of UI in Indian female athletes. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of UI in nulliparous Indian sportswomen.

Methodology: For a duration of 6 months, a cross-sectional study was carried out in various sports centres across the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi. A total of 560 nulliparous Indian female sportswomen were involved based on the selection criteria. The various sports involved were malkhamb, kabaddi, kushti, weightlifting, gymnastics, basketball, badminton, and athletics. All the participants were provided with a questionnaire for female UI diagnosis (QUID), which was the primary outcome measure.

Results: Out of 560 women enrolled in the study, the highest prevalence was found for stress urinary incontinence (SUI), consisting of 126 (22.5%) women, followed by mixed urinary incontinence (MUI), involving 49 (8.8%) women, and urge urinary incontinence (UUI), including 47 (8.4%) women. Additionally, the prevalence of UI was highest in obese and overweight Indian sportswomen. Moreover, the highest prevalence of SUI among women was for weightlifting, whereas for UUI and MUI, malkhamb and kushti sports were the most prevalent, respectively.

Conclusion: The present study concluded that the highest prevalence among nulliparous Indian sportswomen was for SUI, followed by MUI and UUI. Additionally, weightlifting sport showed the highest prevalence for SUI, followed by malkhamb for UUI and kushti for MUI. The prevalence of UI in Indian sportswomen is important as it imparts knowledge and awareness among women and benefits professionals in designing appropriate preventive and rehabilitative protocols for curtailing such problems in the near future.