Physical activity and urinary incontinence in older adults: a community-based study.

Adopting the habit of walking and engaging in moderate exercise regularly may make older men and women less likely to develop urinary incontinence.

​This study evaluated the role of physical activity in the development of urinary incontinence in older adults. Researchers compared the frequency of engagement in physical activities, such as walking, moderate, and vigorous exercise, with the likelihood of experiencing urinary incontinence in a study group comprising of 1,000 Japanese men and women with an average age of 66 years.

Researchers noticed that individuals who walked regularly had better chances of avoiding urinary incontinence than their colleagues who lived a sedentary lifestyle. In addition, this protective association also extends to subjects who engaged in moderate level of physical activity consistently. This study highlights the beneficial role of walking and moderate exercise in the prevention of urinary incontinence.