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RESEARCH ARTICLE

The important role of serum albumin levels in female urge urinary incontinence

Wangli Mei1† ,  Weiguo Ma1,2† ,  Bihui Zhang3† ,  Mingming Xu4* ,  Hang Zhou1*
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1 Department of Urology, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200120, China
2 Department of Urology, Tongxin People’s Hospital, Wuzhong, Ningxia 751300, China
3 Department of Urology, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200434, China
4 Department of Urology, Shanghai Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200065, China
Bladder, e21200081 https://doi.org/10.14440/bladder.0379
Submitted: 16 November 2025 | Revised: 22 December 2025 | Accepted: 25 December 2025 | Published: 10 February 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Background: Low serum albumin is linked to poorer health and may influence pelvic conditions. Objective: The objective of the study is to investigate the connection between serum albumin (SA) and urge urinary incontinence (UUI) in women. Methods: Included in this analysis were 12,113 participants from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey with valid data. Weighted logistic regression models evaluated the SA-UUI relationship while adjusting for key confounders. Subgroup and interaction analyses further explored potential effect modifiers. Results: The mean SA level was significantly lower in women with UUI (4.12 ± 0.32 g/dL) than in the healthy controls (4.18 ± 0.33 g/dL). After full adjustment for covariates, higher SA levels were associated with a 31% reduction in the odds of UUI (adjusted odds ratio = 0.692, 95% confidence interval = 0.581–0.825; p<0.001). Subgroup analyses showed that SA was significantly negatively associated with UUI in all subgroups of age, education, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, history of vaginal delivery, cesarean delivery, and hysterectomy (all p<0.05). Interaction tests showed that the association between SA and UUI was not significantly different among each stratification (all p for interaction >0.05). Conclusion: SA levels are significantly correlated with the risk of urinary incontinence. Although the direction of the causal relationship remains uncertain, SA, as a clinically modifiable indicator, may help identify high-risk individuals and provide a reference for future exploration of the role of nutritional intervention in the prevention and management of urinary incontinence.

Keywords
Urge urinary incontinence
Serum albumin
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Female
Funding
This study was supported by the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Young Top Talent Program (No. 2020365).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
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Bladder, Electronic ISSN: 2327-2120 Print ISSN: TBA, Published by POL Scientific
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