• The clinical outcome was evaluated according to pad use and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement scale and by assessment of side effects. 'Cure' was defined as no pad usage and 'improvement' as a decrease in pad use by > 50%.• Factors related to functional outcome were studied by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS• After a mean ± SD (range) follow-up of 21 ± 6 (12-36) months, 62% of patients were cured, 16% improved and 22% not improved.• Failure (no cure or improvement) was associated with previous urethral stricture surgery ( P = 0.013) and a 24-h pad-test > 200 g/day ( P = 0.026), and there was a trend for an association with previous radiation therapy ( P = 0.053).• Age, learning curve and type of prostatectomy did not affect the results.• Immediate postoperative complications were limited to two cases of dysuria, one case of perineal haematoma and two cases of perineal paresthesia. During follow-up, 10% of patients had perineal pain and 14% of patients had mild dysuria. None required surgical management.

Objective To assess the prevalence of and risk factors for urinary incontinence (UI) in young and middle-aged women. Subjects and methods During 1998 the prevalence of overall, stress, urge and mixed UI was assessed in women working in a French academic hospital. Women (2800) received a questionnaire at the same time as their yearly interview with a staff physician in occupational medicine. The usual risk factors for constitutional events, i.e. increasing age, obesity (de®ned as a body mass index of o25), obstetric events (pregnancy, previous Caesarean delivery, previous vaginal delivery, postpartum incontinence) and gynaecological events (hysterectomy) were evaluated. Results Of the 1700 women (mean age 40.0 years) who returned the questionnaire, 467 (27.5%, 95% con®dence interval, CI, 25.4±29.7) reported UI, comprising 210 (12.4%, 10.8±14.0) with stress UI, 28 (1.6%, 1.1±2.4) with urge UI and 229 (13.5%, 11.9±15.2) with mixed UI. Thirty-eight women (8.1%) had frequent urinary leakage, comprising one (0.5%), four (14.3%) and 33 (14.4%) with stress, urge and mixed UI. The prevalence of UI increased signi®cantly with age o40 years, with a relative risk (95% CI) of 2.16 (1.86±2.57), and with pregnancy (2.22, 1.71±2.87), previous vaginal delivery (2.15, 1.72±2.69), postpartum incontinence (2.57, 2.22±2.97), and hysterectomy (1.52, 1.11±2.08). Obesity (1.14, 0.99±1.32) and previous Caesarean delivery (2.15, 1.72±2.69) did not sig-ni®cantly increase the risk of UI. The risk factors for stress UI were age o40 years, pregnancy, previous vaginal delivery, postpartum incontinence and hysterectomy , but there was no relationship between stress UI and obesity or previous Caesarean delivery. Conclusion There was a high prevalence of UI among young adult and middle-aged women hospital workers who had easy access to medical resources. Gynaecological and obstetric events (pregnancy, particularly previous vaginal delivery and hysterectomy) were the most prominent risk factors, especially for stress UI.

Objective To assess the prevalence of and risk factors for urinary incontinence (UI) in young and middle-aged women. Subjects and methods During 1998 the prevalence of overall, stress, urge and mixed UI was assessed in women working in a French academic hospital.Women (2800)