Urinary incontinence problem for 1 in 8 seniors; sufferers report more loneliness

TORONTO – A new report says one in eight Canadians aged 65 and older suffered from urinary incontinence in 2008-2009.

The report says the embarrassing and limiting condition can have a negative impact on quality of life for people who suffer from it.

And, in fact, seniors who reported having incontinence were more likely to report loneliness than those who didn’t suffer from the condition.

About a third of men and just over half of women with urinary incontinence reported being lonely, compared with a quarter of men and about 40 per cent of women who did not have the condition.

Data from the Statistics Canada report was drawn from the 2008-2009 Canadian Community Health Survey on Healthy Aging.

Roughly 512,000 seniors — or about 12 per cent of those aged 65 or older — reported urinary incontinence.

Women were more likely than men to have the condition — 14 per cent versus nine per cent. And seniors aged 85 or older were more prone to urinary incontinence.

The study concludes that addressing the problem of urinary incontinence in seniors would have a positive impact on their lives.