Urinary incontinence in men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

This study investigated urinary incontinence in men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A total of 244 community-dwelling men (mean age 66.5 years) diagnosed with COPD within the past 4 years were recruited from six hospital outpatient departments in central Japan. The prevalence of urinary incontinence was 10% according to the International Consultation on Incontinence criterion. Urine leakage among the 24 incontinent men was typically a small amount (75%) and occurred once a week or less often (58%). Fifteen (63%) of them reported urge incontinence while only two men experienced stress incontinence. On average they had urine leakage for 2.5 (SD 2.3) years and the majority (n = 19, 79%) developed the condition after diagnosis of COPD. The finding of higher prevalence of urge incontinence challenges the conventional view that COPD is associated with stress incontinence due to high pressure coughs.