Prevalence of fecal incontinence in the urban population of a city in southern Brazil

Aim: The study aimed to determine the prevalence of fecal incontinence (FI) in adults living in a city in southern Brazil, and verify the demographic and clinical factors associated with its occurrence. Methods: This was an epidemiological study and a secondary analysis of data from an unpublished study on the evaluation of bowel habits and risk factors for FI in an urban population. After accomplishment of ethical issues, a sample of 2162 adults (aged 18 and older) was selected from an adult urban population of 305,695 using stratified cluster sampling for which streets from 390 census sectors of the city were randomly selected. The participants were interviewed at their homes using the Bowel Function in the Community questionnaire. Only data on the ‘presence of fecal incontinence’ domain, and demographic and clinical and reproductive variables were analyzed. Pearson’s chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used to analyze the association between the presence/absence of FI and clinical, and demographic variables. A forward stepwise logistic regression model was used and included ‘presence of fecal incontinence’ as the dependent variable, and clinical, demographic and reproductive variables considered significant by the Pearson’s chi-square or Fisher’s exact test as independent variables. Results: The sample consisted predominantly of women (56%), Caucasians (74%), with a mean age of 40.6 (SD=16.4 years). Seventy-seven participants had FI (prevalence of 3.6%) of which 54 (70.1%) had liquid stool incontinence. Age >40 years (OR=1.454; p=.016), anal fissure (OR=3.114; p.003), previous urogenital and anorectal surgeries (OR=3.468; p=.002), nervous disorders/ stroke (OR=1.890; p.017), and diarrhea/constipation (OR=2.081; p.003) were predictors for FI. Conclusion: This study contributed to the current knowledge of the epidemiology of FI in the Brazilian population, by determining its prevalence rate and associated factors, which will allow the development of preventive measures and early diagnosis.