Depression a Risk Factor for Men’s Urinary Incontinence

Middle-aged men have another reason to seek help for major depression, after a recent study links major depression with urinary incontinence in men. The study also showed that men with major depression were more likely to have hypertension, as compared to men with no mood disorder.

The study was conducted by researcher Alayne D. Markland of the University of Alabama in Birmingham. She analyzed data from 5,297 men over the age of 20. The information was gathered in the National Health Examination Survey, a representative sampling of the U.S. population. Date was gathered in home from individuals being treated for major depression and those with no mood disorder, or with an undiagnosed mood disorder.

Participants assessed Urinary Incontinence on a severity index, scoring the frequency of involuntary urine discharge from 1 to 12. Men with major depression were 2.6 times as likely to report moderate to severe incontinence. The risk did not vary by race or ethnic group.

Dr. Markland noted that the study did not address why men with major depression had an increased incidence of urinary incontince. She theorized that some antidepressants may produce the side-effect of urinary incontinence.

In fact, men with major depression were more likely to have urinary incontinence than men with benign prostate enlargement were. Until now, benign prostate enlargement was thought to be a major contributor to urinary incontinence. This study suggests that major depression is also a risk factor.

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary and uncontrollable leak or  flow of urine from the bladder. It is more common among women than men, a fact that may account for the paucity of researcher about UI in men. Nationwide, 4.5 percent of men have moderate to severe urinary incontinence. The incidence increases with age. Just 0.7 percent of men under 34 have urinary incontinence, while 16 percent of men 75 and older have the condition. Each decade increase in age produced an 80% increase in the incidence of incontinence.

Stress urinary incontinence is the involuntary release of urine when coughing, laughing or sneezing, the most common type in women. In men, major depression was a risk factor for both stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence.