Original Article The Prevalence and Determinants of Health Care-Seeking Behavior for Urinary Incontinence in United Arab Emirates Women D. E. E. Rizk, H. Shaheen, L. Thomas, E. Dunn, and M. Y. Hassan Unitied Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and sociodemographics of urinary incon- tinence (UI) in women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Women at risk, such as multiparous and climacteric women, were selected from the community (n = 200) and health-care centers (n = 200) and interviewed about inappropriate urine loss in the past 12 months, using a structured and pretested question- naire. Of these, 81 (20.3%) admitted UI; only 25 of these (30.9%) had sought medical advice. The reasons were embarrassment (38.2%), choice of self-treatment be- cause of low expectations from medical care (38.2%), and preferring to discuss the matter with friends, assuming that UI is normal (23.3%). Sufferers were troubled by their inability to pray (90%) and to have sexual intercourse (33.3%). Perceived causes of UI were paralysis (45%), childbirth (35.4%) and old age or menopause (33.7%). UI is common yet underreported by UAE women because of cultural attitudes and inade- quate public knowledge. Keywords: Female; Prevalence; United Arab Emirates; Urinary incontinence Introduction Urinary incontinence (UI) is defined by the International Continence Society (ICS) as a condition in which involuntary loss of urine is a social or hygienic problem and is objectively demonstrable [1]. Female urinary incontinence is more common with high parity, advancing age and the menopause [2–4]. Previous studies have commented on the prevalence of UI in women from western communities and the psychosocial consequences of this disorder [2–14]. Ethnic differences in prevalence and attitudes to UI have also been reported [12,14,15]. The epidemiological study of the prevalence of UI is important for projecting the need for health services as well as therapeutic intervention [1,15]. As yet there has been no published work from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) about UI in women. UAE is a pronatal society with an estimated mean number of children per woman of 5.9, and 12% of the female population are aged 45 or over [16]. Thus, a high prevalence of female UI is to be expected in the UAE. The experience of gynecologists, however, is that UI is rarely reported by UAE women (M. Ezimokhai, personal communication). It is pertinent to find an explanation for this observation. The aim of our study was (1) to establish whether UI is recognized in the local UAE culture; (2) to determine the prevalence of this disorder in a randomly selected sample of women; (3) to evaluate the sociocultural attitude to the conditon; and (4) to ascertain whether there are any associations between reproductive history, sociodemographic characteristics and the prevalence of UI in the UAE population. Materials and Methods A cohort study was conducted on a selected group of UAE women at risk of having UI, such as the multiparous and climacteric. Pregnant women were excluded. The study protocol was approved by the Research Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al-Ain, UAE. Int Urogynecol J (1999) 10:160–165 ß 1999 Springer-Verlag London Ltd International Urogynecology Journal Correspondence and offprint requests to: Dr Diaa E. E. Rizk, PO Box 17666, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.