Effects of Aging on Lower Urinary Tract and Pelvic Floor Function in Nulliparous Women

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the effects of aging, independent of parity, on pelvic organ and urethral support, urethral function, and levator function in a sample of nulliparous women. METHODS:A cohort of 82 nulliparous women, aged 21–70 years, were recruited from the community through advertisements. Subjects underwent pelvic examination using pelvic organ prolapse quantification, urethral angles by cotton-tipped swab, and multichannel urodynamics and uroflow. Vaginal closure force was quantified using an instrumented vaginal speculum. Subjects were grouped into five age categories and analyses performed using t tests, Fisher exact tests, Kruskal-Wallace, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Multiple linear regression modeling was performed to adjust for factors that might confound the results of our primary outcomes. RESULTS:Increasing age was associated with decreasing maximal urethral closure pressure (r=–0.758, P