Comorbidities of community-dwelling older adults with urinary incontinence: A scoping review.

Most included studies were cross-sectional, so they cannot show which condition came first. 90% of studies measured urinary incontinence with self-report questions that were not tested for reliability and validity. 70% of studies assessed comorbidities with self-report interviews or questionnaires, and only one study used a tested urinary incontinence questionnaire. The samples were mostly White and mostly female, so the findings may not apply equally to men or racially and ethnically diverse groups. The review excluded people in hospitals, nursing homes, and post-acute care, so it does not address those settings. The search was limited to three databases and English-language articles, so some relevant studies may have been missed. Many studies did not specify the type of urinary incontinence, so subtype-specific associations are unclear.

The publication types list NIH extramural research support, and the authors reported no financial or personal relationships that could cause a conflict of interest.

Do not conclude that these comorbidities cause urinary incontinence or that treating them will reduce incontinence. Most included studies were cross-sectional, and 90% measured incontinence with untested self-report questions, so the associations may reflect bias or reverse direction.