Sleep Patterns and Risk of New-Onset Stress Urinary Incontinence: The UK Biobank Prospective Cohort Study

ABSTRACT

Objective

The association between sleep behaviors and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) risk remains uncertain. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between sleep patterns, based on a combination of five major sleep behaviors, and the risk of new-onset SUI.

Methods

The study included 406 921 participants from the UK Biobank who were free of SUI at baseline. A healthy sleep score was created by combining five major sleep behaviors: chronotype, sleep duration, insomnia, snoring, and daytime sleepiness. The primary outcome was new-onset SUI.

Results

During a median follow-up of 12.0 years, 6948 (1.7%) participants developed new-onset SUI. Compared to participants with poor sleep patterns (healthy sleep score 0 to 1), those with healthy sleep patterns (healthy sleep score 4 to 5) had a significantly lower risk of new-onset SUI (HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.58–0.84).

Conclusions

Among the general population, a healthy sleep pattern was associated with a significantly lower risk of new-onset SUI.

Clinical Trial Registration: The study utilizes data from the UK Biobank, which is an observational research resource containing deidentified participant data collected without any intervention. According to ICMJE guidelines and WHO standards, purely observational studies (such as cohort analyses using existing datasets) do not require clinical trial registration as they involve no experimental interventions or assignment of participants to specific exposures. This position is consistent with current practices in epidemiological research using biobank data.

Yuan, Y., Hu, X., Yang, H., Zheng, F., Zhou, L., & Fu, B. (2025). Sleep patterns and risk of new-onset stress urinary incontinence: The UK Biobank prospective cohort study. Neurourology and Urodynamics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/nau.70134