Urinary system, genital tract disorders common in women with T1D

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is strongly associated with acute vulvitis, cystitis, urinary incontinence, and menstruation problems in women, a study suggests.

The retrospective study included 1,357 women with T1D and 6,785 matched non-T1D controls (mean age, 45.6 years). Researchers compared their medical records and found that urinary system and genital tract disorders were common in the T1D group.

In multivariate logistic regression models, T1D was associated with increased odds of having acute vulvitis (odds ratio [OR], 2.12, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.56–2.90), other specified urinary incontinence (OR, 1.64, 95 percent CI, 1.19–2.26), acute cystitis (OR, 1.46, 95 percent CI, 1.10–1.95), and absent, scanty, and rare menstruation (OR, 1.37, 95 percent CI, 1.13–1.67).

T1D may lead to several long-term complications including macro- and microvascular disorders and osteoporosis, and the present data may have implications for the clinical care of women with the metabolic disorder, according to the researchers.

For the most part, care should not concentrate on diabetes management alone but must also include identifying and handling additional associated comorbidities, such as urinary system and genital tract disorders, they said.

The researchers also stressed that it is important that clinicians managing patients with T1D should inquire about symptoms the patients may be experiencing that are related to acute vulvitis, cystitis, urinary incontinence, and menstruation problems.