Diabetes and obesity related risks for pelvic reconstructive surgery in a cohort of Swedish twins

doi:10.2337/dc08-0988

Diabetes and obesity related risks for pelvic reconstructive surgery in a cohort of Swedish twins

Mats Forsman, MSc¹,
Anastasia Iliadou, PhD¹,
Patrik Magnusson, PhD¹,
Christian Falconer, MD, PhD² and
Daniel Altman, MD, PhD (daniel.altman{at}ki.se)¹,²

¹Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, and
²Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Karolinska Institutet Danderyd Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

Aims: To determine the diabetes and obesity related risks for surgically managed stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

Research design and methods: This twin cohort study used the Swedish Twin Register to identify 8,443 female twin pairs born 1926-1958. The association between diabetes and pelvic floor surgery was estimated while taking into account the correlated (twin) structure of the data.

Results: For diabetes type 1 and 2, no significant associations were observed for stress urinary incontinence (OR 1.0, 95%; CI 0.1-9.2, and OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.0-4.0). There were no cases of prolapse surgery in type 1 diabetics, and for type 2 diabetes the risk estimate was non-significant (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.0-2.7). Body mass index >25, age ≥60 years and childbirth were the strongest risk factors for having incontinence surgery.

Conclusion: Our data suggest that diabetes is not associated with stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse surgery.