Women who perform high-impact exercise are susceptible to urinary leakage, particularly those with a low foot arch, which, on impact, increases the shock to the pelvic area. Those at highest risk for urinary leakage are gymnasts, followed by softball, volleyball, and basketball players. One study of 600 women indicated that smokers and former smokers are twice as likely to develop incontinence than women who never smoked are. Medical Factors in Women. According to one 1999 study, urge incontinence is more common among older postmenopausal women who are diabetic or who reported two urinary tract infections within the past year.
Obesity is also a major factor for incontinence in older women.
In older men, prostate problems and their treatments affect the urinary tract and increase their risk for incontinence to the extent that the incontinence rates in men and women tend to even out. All older adults, however, are susceptible to incontinence. Urge incontinence accounts for two-thirds of incontinence cases in the elderly. The reports are distinguished from other information sources available to patients and health care consumers by their quality, detail of information, and currency. These reports are not intended as a substitute for medical professional help or advice but are to be used only as an aid in understanding current medical knowledge.