Urinary incontinence is a common problem among women that causes distress, diminished quality of life and dramatic limitations in daily functioning. Overweight women are at significantly increased risk of urinary incontinence and over 65% of women with incontinence are overweight. Data from short-term, preliminary studies suggest that weight reduction may significantly reduce incontinence episodes. Thus, weight loss may present a promising new approach to urinary incontinence treatment, one likely to produce a cascade of broader health improvements in addition to reductions in frequency of urinary incontinence. Therefore, we propose to randomize 330 overweight and obese women with urinary incontinence (165 at each of two clinical centers) to a 6-month intensive behavioral weight control program or to usual care to determine the short-term effect of weight loss on frequency of incontinence and quality of life, to identify women most likely to benefit from weight loss and to begin to explore the urodynamic mechanisms underlying incontinence improvement following weight loss. To maximize enduring effects of weight loss on urinary incontinence, it will be necessary to produce sustained weight loss. However, weight maintenance remains a challenge in the obesity field. Therefore, we propose to evaluate an innovative, theory-guided weight maintenance program that will focus on increasing motivation and commitment to behavior change efforts and compare this with a more standard, skills-focused weight maintenance program. After completing the 6-month weight loss program, women in the weight loss arm will be randomized to either a 12-month standard, skill-based maintenance program or to a motivationally-focused maintenance intervention. Outcomes will include weight loss, incontinence frequency and quality of life at 18 months. If effective in women with incontinence, the methods and strategies of this innovative motivationally-focused maintenance intervention can be examined in other obese populations. WIN-Weight Reduction for Incontinence Network-brings together a unique group of outstanding and experienced investigators with expertise in urinary incontinence, obesity treatment and multicenter collaborative clinical trials at three institutions. The proposed study design will allow us to efficiently evaluate both a novel treatment for urinary incontinence and a promising approach to enhancement of weight maintenance, and therefore to make substantive contributions to several clinical arenas critical to women's health.
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