ASSESSMENT OF PREVALENCE OF STRESS URINARY INCONTINNENCE DURING PREGNANCY

Abstract

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI), the most common type of urinary incontinence (UI) in pregnant women, is defined by the International Continence Society (ICS) as the complaint of involuntary loss of urine on effort or physical exertion, or on sneezing or coughing. There are few comparative data to determine whether there are any differences between the beginning and end of gestation. This information would be highly useful because the factors that favor the development of urinary incontinence during pregnancy are still scarcely known. It's well known that pregnancy may associate with the reduction of pelvic floor muscle PFM strength which can develop the SUI. However, the exact mechanism of the development of SUI during pregnancy is remained unclear. It has been proposed that SUI is caused by both mechanical and hormonal changes that accompany pregnancy The main objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of SUI during pregnancy and whether there are any differences between the characteristics of incontinence and affected women during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy.