Do obstetric-gynaecological risk factors, symptoms, and anal sphincter morphology predict disordered continence mechanisms?
| Predictor variable | Objective parameter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anal resting pressure | Anal squeeze pressure | Rectal capacity | Rectal sensation | Motion rest−squeeze | Motion rest−defecation | |
| All values except last row are squared partial correlation coefficients. | ||||||
| (−), an inverse correlation between risk factor and objective parameter. | ||||||
| BMI, body mass index. | ||||||
| ¶Obstetric: the “mild” category includes subjects with four or more vaginal deliveries but no known episiotomy or forceps delivery. The “severe” category includes subjects with a previous episiotomy or forceps delivery. | ||||||
| Subjects who were incontinent because they “often” or “usually” had great urge and could not reach the toilet on time were defined as having “urge” incontinence. Subjects who were not aware of leakage of stool during an incontinence episode were defined as having “passive” incontinence. | ||||||
| *p<0.05; †p<0.01; ‡p⩽0.005. | ||||||
| Age | 0.004 (−) | 0.002 (−) | 0.014 (−) | <0.001 | 0.022 (−) | 0.033 |
| BMI | 0.001 | 0.005 (−) | 0.001 (−) | <0.001 (−) | 0.020 | 0.017 (−) |
| Obstetric–mild¶ | 0.027 (−) | <0.001 (−) | 0.038 | 0.061* | 0.018 | <0.001 |
| Obstetric–severe¶ | 0.015 (−) | 0.007 | 0.001 (−) | 0.025 | 0.007 | 0.009 |
| Hysterectomy | 0.030 (−) | 0.001 (−) | 0.011 (−) | 0.045 (−) | 0.001 | 0.002 (−) |
| Urge incontinence | <0.001 | 0.052 (−) | 0.061* (−) | 0.026 | 0.112† | 0.013 |
| Passive Incontinence | <0.001 (−) | 0.002 (−) | 0.008 (−) | 0.021 | 0.069* | 0.062* |
| Internal and/or external sphincter tear only | 0.016 (−) | 0.195‡ (−) | 0.047 (−) | 0.007 | 0.001 (−) | 0.005 |
| Internal and/or external sphincter atrophy+tear | 0.063* (−) | 0.263‡ (−) | 0.099† (−) | 0.014 | 0.047 (−) | 0.019 |
| Total variance | 0.23 | 0.45 | 0.35 | 0.23 | 0.18 | 0.25 |