Difference in Incontinence Prevalence Between High Impact Athletes, Low Impact Athletes and Sedentary Subjects

Overview

This observational cross-sectional study aims to investigate the association between participation in high-impact sports, physical activity level, and urinary incontinence in young adults. The study will compare six groups based on sex and physical activity level: male and female high-impact sports participants, physically active males and females who do not participate in high-impact sports, and sedentary males and females. Participants aged 18-35 years will undergo a single assessment including sociodemographic and medical information, physical activity assessment, urinary incontinence questionnaires, sport-related characteristics, psychosocial questions regarding the influence of social taboos on questionnaire responses, lower-limb muscle strength testing using a load cell, and vertical jump performance assessment. The study aims to describe the prevalence, severity, type, and impact of urinary incontinence across different activity levels and sexes, and to explore potential associations with lower-limb strength, jump performance, and sport-related characteristics.

Urinary incontinence is a common condition that may affect both women and men and has been associated with physical activity and participation in high-impact sports. Although regular exercise provides substantial health benefits, repetitive increases in intra-abdominal pressure during high-impact activities may contribute to pelvic floor dysfunction in susceptible individuals. Most previous studies have focused on female athletes from specific sports, while evidence including both sexes and different physical activity levels remains limited. This observational cross-sectional study will compare urinary incontinence characteristics among six population groups defined according to sex and physical activity level: male and female participants in high-impact sports, physically active males and females who do not participate in high-impact sports, and sedentary males and females. Participants will attend a single face-to-face assessment session after providing written informed consent. During the visit, sociodemographic and clinical information, physical activity characteristics, sport-related variables, urinary incontinence questionnaires, and psychosocial questions related to social taboos and response honesty will be collected. Lower-limb muscle strength will be assessed using a load cell system, and jump performance will be evaluated using the My Jump 2 application. The primary objective is to compare the prevalence, severity, type, and impact of urinary incontinence across the different study groups. Secondary analyses will explore the relationship between urinary incontinence and physical activity level, lower-limb muscle strength, jump performance, sport-related characteristics, and selected demographic and clinical variables. Participants will be recruited through social media, institutional dissemination, and sports clubs using voluntary convenience and snowball sampling. All assessments will be performed by trained researchers following standardized procedures.