Among noninstitutionalized Americans aged 65 years and older, 61.2% of women and 38% of men experience at least occasional urinary or bowel incontinence, the National Center for Health Statistics reported.
Data from the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show that 54.8% of women and 29.9% of men had urinary leakage at least a few times a month, while 19.2% of women and 14.9% of men had accidental bowel leakage of mucus, liquid stool, or solid stool at least one to three times a month, according to the NCHS (Vital Health Stat. 2014;3[36]).
Among women aged 65-74 years, 60.6% had some type of incontinence, compared with 61.9% of women aged 75 years and over. The difference was larger for men, however, with 34.1% of those aged 65-74 years reporting incontinence, compared with 42.4% of men aged 75 years and over, the report showed.
The NHANES data are based on in-home interviews with a nationally representative sample of 2,625 respondents.
Prevalence of incontinence in those aged 65 years and over