Abstract
The most common type of urinary incontinence (UI) in pregnant women is stress urinary
incontinence (SUI). The number of pregnant women with SUI was variable, the prevalence
ranged from 18.6% to 75% and increased with gestational age. It can affect the quality
of life (QoL) of approximately 54.3% of all pregnant women in four domains including
physical activity, travel, social relationships and emotional health. Pregnancy is
one of the main risk factors for the development of SUI in young women. Physiological
changes during pregnancy, such as increasing pressure of the growing uterus and fetal
weight on the pelvic floor muscle (PFM) throughout pregnancy, together with pregnancy-related
hormonal changes such as increased progesterone, decreased relaxin, and decreased
collagen levels, may lead to reduced strength and supportive and sphincteric function
of the PFM. Pregnancy may associate with the reduction of the PFM strength which can
develop the SUI. However, the exact causes of pregnancy-related SUI remain unclear.
Multiple factors have been found to be associated with the development of SUI during
pregnancy. In genetic risk factors, aging is an important role in SUI development.
The other risk factors such as obesity, smoking, constipation, pre-pregnancy SUI,
gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) that
utilized preventive strategies can reduce SUI in pregnant women. The purpose of this
review is to identify the risk factors for the development of SUI in pregnant women.
These understanding can be useful for health professions to inform and counsel the
pregnant women to prevent and reduce the risk factors that contribute to the development
of SUI during pregnancy and postpartum period.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 21, 2014
Accepted:
April 8,
2014
Received in revised form:
February 10,
2014
Received:
June 3,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
