Oral contraceptives reduce risk of urinary incontinence

Women who use oral contraceptives have a significantly reduced risk for symptoms of stress urinary incontinence, mixed urinary incontinence, and urgency urinary incontinence, even after adjusting for age, body mass index, and pregnancy history.

The findings come from a national cohort study involving over 10,000 premenopausal women aged 24 to 50 years from the population-based Swedish Twin Registry who participated in a Web-based survey of common diseases.

No such associations were found with hormone-releasing intrauterine contraceptive devices.

Iliadou A, Milsom I, Pedersen NL, et al. Risk of urinary incontinence symptoms in oral contraceptive users: a national cohort study from the Swedish Twin Register. Fertil Steril. 2009;92:428-433.