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Introduction: Many women with urinary incontinence restrict their fluid intake in an effort to manage their urinary symptoms. Additionally, women without incontinence might limit their fluid intake hoping to prevent incontinence despite the lack of evidence. Because low fluid intake is associated with increased risks of several chronic diseases, more studies are needed. We prospectively investigated the relation between total fluid intake and incident urinary incontinence in the Nurses' Health Study cohorts.
Materials & Methods: We measured daily fluid intake using food frequency questionnaires among 65,167 women, aged 37-79 years, without incontinence at baseline (2000-2001). Women reported incontinence incidence on questionnaires during 4 years of follow-up. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models.
Results: We found no association between total fluid intake and risk of incident incontinence (multivariable-adjusted HR 1.04, 95% CI 0.98-1.10 comparing top to bottom quintile of fluid intake). In analyses of incontinence type, total fluid intake was not associated with risks of incident stress, urgency, or mixed incontinence (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.77 - 1.06 for stress; HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.88 - 1.44 for urge; and HR 1.12, 95% CI 0.89 - 1.42 for mixed incontinence comparing top to bottom quintile of fluid intake). We also found no associations between specific beverages (e.g. juice, soda, alcohol etc.) and incontinence risk.
Conclusions: No significant risk of incident urinary incontinence was found with higher fluid intake in women. Women should not restrict their fluid intake to prevent incontinence development.