Prevalence of overactive bladder and urinary incontinence.

We conducted a cross-sectional study in Italy among men at least 50 years old and women at least 40 years old who consecutively visited their general practitioners. Patients were asked about the frequency of symptoms of overactive bladder and urinary incontinence. A total of 9613 men (mean age, 64.8 years; range, 50-98 years) and 13,365 women (mean age, 60.3 years; range, 40-98 years) were identified by 774 general practitioners. The frequencies of overactive bladder were 3.0% (95% confidence interval, 2.7-3.5) in men and 1.1% (95% confidence interval, 0.9-1.3) in women. The corresponding frequencies for urinary incontinence were 8.3% (95% confidence interval, 7.7-8.9) in men and 10.2% (95% confidence interval, 9.6-10.8) in women.