Aims of Study
Although urinary incontinence is very common among adult women, too little is known about risk factors or causal factors for this condition. An association with connective tissue disorders has been shown in stress incontinence, and alteration of connective tissue metabolism has been proposed as playing a role in the pathogenesis. We wanted to identify musculosceletal comorbidity and risk factors for urinary incontinence among middle aged women in a population-based study.

Methods
The study was performed partly as a cross-sectional study to estimate occurrence of urinary incontinence, partly as a case-control study to look for factors associated with urinary incontinence. The study was performed in connection with a cardiovascular screening program in the county of Sor-Trondelag, Norway. 5139 women aged 40-42 were invited to participate. All women were asked to answer a questionnaire about urinary incontinence and musculosceletal disorders/complaints. Past and present urinary incontinence were recorded without specifying type of incontinence.

Results
Out of the 5139 women invited 4034 answered the questionnaire. 7.7% of the women reported past or present urinary incontinence. Occurrence of musculosceletal disorders is reported in Table 1. Table 1. Musculosceletal disorders/complaints in 40-42 years old women with or without urinary incontinence. All numbers in per cent. Chi squared test, * p < 0.01, ** p < 0.001

(rheumatoid arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis)

Conclusions
Middle-aged women with urinary incontinence reported a significantly higher rate of musculosceletal symptoms and disorders compared to women not suffering from urinary incontinence. These findings can support the proposed association between urinary incontinence and connective tissue disorders, but other hypotheses could also be generated. Further studies should be done to find causal or risk factors for urinary incontinence.