Association between arthritis and urinary incontinence in US adults: A cross-sectional study based on NHANES 2011–2023

Although musculoskeletal conditions and lower urinary tract symptoms frequently coexist, the independent link between arthritis and urinary incontinence (UI) has received little empirical attention. We therefore quantified the strength of this association in a cross-sectional, nationally representative series of U.S. adults. We pooled 5 consecutive cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2023). Logistic regression was used to model UI (stress, urge, mixed) as the outcome and self-reported arthritis (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or other types of arthritis) as the exposure. Models were progressively adjusted for demographic characteristics, socio-economic position, body mass index, and major systemic morbidities. Survey weights were applied to yield population-level estimates. Among 24,528 eligible respondents (aged ≥ 20 years), 27.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9-28.2) reported arthritis. Weighted UI prevalence was 25.0% for stress, 22.5% for urge, and 11.0% for mixed subtypes. After full adjustment, arthritis conferred a 31% higher odds of stress UI (odds ratio [OR] 1.31; 95% CI 1.16-1.47), a 44% increase for urge UI (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.30-1.60), and a 49% increase for mixed UI (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.31-1.70). When arthritis was disaggregated, both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid subtypes were independently associated with each UI category (P < .05). Across 13 years of nationally representative data, arthritis was consistently linked to a modest but statistically robust elevation in the prevalence of all 3 UI forms among American adults.