Women with moderate-to-severe Urinary Incontinence are two or three times more likely to be seriously depressed than continent women, according to new study results - which suggests that doctors should be assessing the mental health of women with incontinence.

Dr. Jennifer L. Melville and colleagues from the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, examined data for women randomly selected from enrollees at the Group Health Cooperative, a large health maintenance organization in Washington State.

A survey questionnaire was mailed to 6000 women, 3536 of whom responded.

Among the respondents, 42 percent (1458 women) reported that they suffered from Urinary Incontinence. The researchers note in the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology that the prevalence increased with age, from 28 percent in women in their 30s to 55 percent in women in their 90s.

The overall prevalence of major depression was 3.7 percent - with a 6.1 percent rate in women with incontinence compared with only 2.2 percent of women without bladder problems.

Among women with Urinary Incontinence, the prevalence of major depression differed by incontinence severity - 2.1 percent in women with mild incontinence, 5.7 percent in those with moderate incontinence and 8.3 percent in those with severe incontinence.

Women with incontinence and depression had significantly poorer quality of life and functional status compared to those with incontinence alone.

“Incontinence and major depression are highly prevalent in women throughout their lifetimes, yet both conditions are under-diagnosed and under-treated,” Melville told.

“By increasing awareness of the two conditions and potential associations between them,” she said, “we hope to improve the detection and treatment of these distressing conditions, thereby improving the quality of life of millions of women.”

SOURCE: Obstetrics and Gynecology, September 2005.