Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117823

Maryam Afrakhteh, MD¹, Neda Bahrami, MD¹, Shabnam Sattari, MD¹, Naser Valaei, MS¹, Mahan Haghbayan, MD², and Hossein Bahrami, MD, MPH³. (1) Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Sa'adat Abad, Tehran, 14683, Iran, (2) Department of Anesthesiology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Sa'adat Abad, Tehran, 14683, Iran, (3) Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, P.O.Box: 1003, Baltimore, MD 21205, (410)502-6501, hbahrami@jhsph.edu

Background: The association between the type of delivery and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is controversial. Traumas during normal vaginal delivery (NVD) are suggested to increase the risk of SUI in women.

Objective: To define the association between NVD and SUI

Methods: We conducted a case-control study on 258 women referred to a university-based general hospital and two private clinics. Eighty-six cases who had complained of SUI and had clinical manifestations of the disorder and 172 normal controls were recruited. Clinical manifestations of the disorder was defined as urinary stress with different types of stress—like cough, sneezing, laughter, or physical activity—and a positive result in either Q-tip test or cough test. Controls were matched on age and number of deliveries. Type of delivery in both groups were defined by a questionnaire and was verified by medical records, if possible.

Results: Among cases of SUI, 93% had NVD. This rate was 91.3% in control group and there was no statistically significant difference between two groups in terms of type of delivery (OR: 1.27, 95% confidence interval 0.45, 4.16; p-value: 0.62). There was no significant difference between two groups after adjustment for other risk factors. Q-tip test and cough test were positive in 95.9% and 60.9%, respectively.

Conclusion: We did not find any association between the NVD and SUI in women.

Learning Objectives:

• This study addresses an important controversy of whether normal vaginal delivery (NVD) as the choice type of delivery in women increases the risk of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). We found no association between NVD and SUI.

Keywords: Pregnancy Outcomes, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.