Depression causes urinary incontinence in women

Older women who suffer from major depression have a higher risk of developing urinary incontinence than women of the same age who are not depressed.

Previous studies demonstrated a high rate of depression among women being treated for urinary incontinence but none had examined whether one condition led to the other. The researchers hypothesised that because the brain chemical serotonin plays a role in both depression and bladder function, the physiological changes brought on by one illness may set the stage for the other.

To further study the association between urinary incontinence and depression, researchers analysed data gathered over six years in the ongoing Health and Retirement Study of the financial and physical health of recent retirees in 70,000 American households. They analysed women who entered the study with depression to look for urinary incontinence as well as women with urinary incontinence to see if depression was reported at follow-up.

It was found that out of 5820 women, aged around 55 years, who reported depression at the start of the study, 21% developed urinary incontinence. But none of the women with urinary incontinence developed depression.

The above findings indicate that depression predicts the onset of urinary incontinence and highlights the importance of addressing depression urgently as a public health priority, because of the effect it may have on other biological functions.