Urinary incontinence and age at the first and last delivery: the Norwegian HUNT/EPINCONT study.

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the association between maternal age at the first and last delivery, and urinary incontinence later in life. In the Norwegian EPINCONT study (a substudy of HUNT 2), cross-sectional data on incontinence from 11,397 women aged 20 to 64 years was linked with prospectively obtained data on exposures from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Bivariate and multivariate methods were applied. Women 25 years or younger at their first delivery had a lower risk of incontinence than their older counterparts (23% vs 28%, P < .01). No significant effect of maternal age at the first delivery was found in women with actual age 50 to 64 years. Adjusting for confounders did not change any results. Age at the last delivery was less associated with incontinence. Being older than 25 years at the first delivery was associated with incontinence. The effect attenuated with actual age.