Does the incidence of urgency symptoms increase along with the severity of stress urinary incontinence?

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether symptoms of urinary urgency increase according to the severity of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). For this purpose, we recruited women with symptoms of mixed as well as pure SUI and compared the clinical characteristics of each subgroup. Materials and Methods: A total of 241 female patients who were diagnosed with SUI and mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) were analyzed retrospectively. Patients with only SUI were categorized as group 1. Patients with MUI were categorized as group 2. Clinical and urodynamic differences between the 2 groups were compared. Results: The proportion of Stamey grade was significantly different between the 2 groups: grade 1 SUI was higher in group 1, but grades 2 and 3 SUI were higher in group 2. The incidence of urgency was proportional to the degree of Stamey grade (23.5% in grade 1, 36.9% in grade II, and 60.0% in grade III). In the urodynamic study, the presence of detrusor overactivity was significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1 (25.9% vs. 49.4%). Other clinical parameters were also significantly different between the 2 clinical groups: Q-tip angle (group 1: 42.1°, group 2: 28.6°, p<0.05), maximal urethral closure pressure (group 1: 54.7 cmH₂O, group 2: 44.1 cmH₂O, p<0.05), maximal bladder capacity (group 1: 356.3 ml, group 2: 282.0 ml, p<0.05), and bladder volume at first desire (group 1: 144.6 ml, group 2: 123.2 ml, p<0.05). Conclusions: According to this analysis, the more serious the symptoms of SUI, the higher the incidence of urinary urgency.