Abstract: Objective: To identify the risk factors for urinary incontinence in older adults by systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Methods: Databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMbase, CBM, CNKI, and Wanfang Data were accessed and searched for eligible studies on risk factors of urinary incontinence from inception to June 2019. Two reviewers worked independently in screening the literature, extracting data and assessing the quality and risk of bias on included studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3. Results: As a result, a total of twenty-one studies were included in the final analysis involving 147 003 patients. The advanced age, female, cognitive dysfunction, physical dysfunction, anxiety and depression, low activities of daily living, arthritis, urinary tract infection, stroke and diabetes were risk factors for elderly patients with urinary incontinence. Conclusion: The study suggests that patients who presented with such risk factors are more likely to have urinary incontinence, therefore needed more attention. However, because the studies included in the current analysis are with insufficient evidence, and inconsistent evaluation methods for urinary incontinence were used with sample sizes varied in a great extent among studies. More strictly designed original studies should be conducted to identify the risk factors for urinary incontinence in older adults in the future.

Key words: urinary incontinence; elderly; risk factors; systematic review; Meta-analysis