|
Facts and Statistics
-
The International Continence Society (ICS) defines
incontinence as the involuntary loss of bladder or bowel
control.
-
Urinary Incontinence (UI) is a stigmatized, underreported,
under-diagnosed, under-treated condition that is erroneously
thought to be a normal part of aging. One-third of men
and women ages 30-70 believe that incontinence is a part of
aging to accept.
-
Information on healthy bladder function can help promote the
understanding that incontinence is not a normal part of
aging but a symptom of another problem.
-
The social costs of UI are high and even mild symptoms
affect social, sexual, interpersonal, and professional
function.
General Prevalence:
-
UI affects 200 million people worldwide.
-
Based on expert opinion, 25 million adult Americans
experience transient or chronic UI. NAFC estimates that
75-80% of those sufferers are women, 9-13 million of whom
have bothersome, severe, symptoms.
-
Consumer research reveals that one in four women over the
age of 18 experience episodes of leaking urine
involuntarily.
-
One-third of men and women ages 30-70 have experienced loss
of bladder control at some point in their adult lives and
may be still living with the symptoms.
-
Of men and women ages 30-70 who awaken during the night to
use the bathroom, more than one-third get up twice or more
per night to urinate, fitting the clinical diagnosis of
nocturia. Of these adults, one in eight say they sometimes
lose urine on the way to the bathroom.
-
Two-thirds of men and women age 30-70 have never discussed
bladder health with their doctor.
-
One in eight Americans who have experienced loss of bladder
control have been diagnosed. Men are less likely to be
diagnosed than women. Men are also less likely to talk about
it with friends and family, and are more likely to be
uninformed.
-
On average, women wait 6.5 years from the first time they
experience symptoms until they obtain a diagnosis for their
bladder control problem(s).
-
Two-thirds of individuals who experience loss of bladder
control symptoms do not use any treatment or product to
manage their incontinence.
Economic Costs / Absorbent Products 
-
The 1995 societal cost of incontinence for individuals 65
years of age and older was $26.3 billion, or $3565 per
individual with urinary incontinence. Most of the total cost
is associated with direct treatment, such as the cost of
diagnostic testing and medication.
-
The cost of OAB is 12.6 billion in year 2000 dollars. $9.1
and $3.5 billion, respectively, was incurred by community
and institutional residents.
-
Nearly half of the costs of UI are for medical services paid
by Medicare.
-
The cost of caring for UI and OAB in nursing facility
patients is an estimated $5.3 billion.
-
Kimberly Clark was quoted in a Nonwovens Industry (March
2001) article projecting that in the year 2005, the U. S.
retail and institutional sales of the manufacturer would
reach $2.1 billion and global sales would hit $5.8 billion.
Kimberly Clark is believed to have approximately half of the
market (in 2001, its share of the adult incontinence market
was 52.4%).
-
The same 2001 Kimberly Clark article stated that the U.S.
adult incontinence retail/home care market grew 3.1% to
reach $594 million in 2000, according to Information
Resources Inc. of Chicago. This figure does not reflect
institutional sales to hospitals and nursing homes. Nearly a
decade earlier, Theta Corporation reported that the retail
and home care market was $275 million, including briefs,
underpads, inserts/liners, and other undergarments for
absorption. In that year, the institutional sector was
recorded at $465 million, or a total market size in the U.
S. of $740 million. This represents an 8.9% average annual
increase in the retail market between 1991 and 2000.
Applying the same rate to the following six years between
2000 and 2006 would put today's U.S. retail/home care market
at about $991 million.
-
Since their introduction in late 2001, POISE pantiliners
have come to represent 7% of all incontinence pads and
liners, according to K-C. This is entirely retail and
represents essentially a new product category, as more than
60% of POISE pantiliner users are new to the category of
adult absorbent products. This supports a much faster rate
of growth in home care products over institutional as well.
-
The Founder and Executive Publisher, Al Neuharth, of USA
Today, who in a September 20-22,2002 editorial revealed his
own incontinence and use of absorbent products. In his
essay, he quoted an estimated 1.69 billion adult diapers
sold in that year in this country, compared to just 700
million ten years earlier, and only 392 some 20 years prior.
-
When NAFC surveyed our consumer subscribers over 7 years
ago, about 60% (59.9%) said that they used some type of
disposable liner or pad or underwear. It is noteworthy that
at that time 26.8% of all women with incontinence said they
used sanitary napkins and 17.4% of all women used tissues,
paper towels, or toilet paper in lieu of any specially
designed absorbent product. Similarly, 26.5% of all men who
responded said they used reusable pads, diapers, or other
reusable briefs. Again, in the same survey, the average
respondent claimed to have spent $946 managing incontinence
(including absorbent products, inserts and pessaries) in the
past year, although 57.0% indicated they had spent less than
$500 a year. Those are 1999 numbers.
Facts and Statistics
-
The International Continence Society (ICS) defines
incontinence as the involuntary loss of bladder or bowel
control.
-
Urinary Incontinence (UI) is a stigmatized, underreported,
under-diagnosed, under-treated condition that is erroneously
thought to be a normal part of aging. One-third of men and
women ages 30-70 believe that incontinence is a part of
aging to accept.
-
Information on healthy bladder function can help promote the
understanding that incontinence is not a normal part of
aging but a symptom of another problem.
-
The social costs of UI are high and even mild symptoms
affect social, sexual, interpersonal, and professional
function.
General Prevalence:
-
UI affects 200 million people worldwide.
-
Based on expert opinion, 25 million adult Americans
experience transient or chronic UI. NAFC estimates that
75-80% of those sufferers are women, 9-13 million of whom
have bothersome, severe, symptoms.
-
Consumer research reveals that one in four women over the
age of 18 experience episodes of leaking urine
involuntarily.
-
One-third of men and women ages 30-70 have experienced loss
of bladder control at some point in their adult lives and
may be still living with the symptoms.
-
Of men and women ages 30-70 who awaken during the night to
use the bathroom, more than one-third get up twice or more
per night to urinate, fitting the clinical diagnosis of
nocturia. Of these adults, one in eight say they sometimes
lose urine on the way to the bathroom.
-
Two-thirds of men and women age 30-70 have never discussed
bladder health with their doctor.
-
One in eight Americans who have experienced loss of bladder
control have been diagnosed. Men are less likely to be
diagnosed than women. Men are also less likely to talk about
it with friends and family, and are more likely to be
uninformed.
-
On average, women wait 6.5 years from the first time they
experience symptoms until they obtain a diagnosis for their
bladder control problem(s).
-
Two-thirds of individuals who experience loss of bladder
control symptoms do not use any treatment or product to
manage their incontinence.
Stress
-
Stress urinary incontinence, the most prevalent form of
incontinence among women, affects an estimated 15 million
adult women in the U.S.
-
29% of individuals ages 60-70 experience leakage when
coughing, sneezing, or laughing compared to 17% of men and
women ages 30-39. A portion of these individuals also
experience urge incontinence.
-
One-fourth of women older than 17 reportedly experienced
stress incontinence during the immediately preceding 30 days
from being questioned. 24% of women ages 25-44 experienced
symptoms compared to 33% of women ages 45-64.
-
Studies have indicated that as many as 50% of men report
leakage due to SUI in the first few weeks following prostate
surgery after removal of the catheter. In
approximately 20% of men, some degree of SUI will continue
to be a significant problem one year post-surgery.
www.nafc.org
www.medlineplus.gov
www.nih.gov
|
