A study of low-income individuals has found that adult incontinence is a common condition in this type of community.

Researchers at the University of Sao Paolo and the Federal University of Sao Paolo in Brazil studied 388 older people, all of whom agreed to face-to-face interviews about their use

of incontinence pads and other incontinence supplies.

The study authors found that 38.4 per cent of the participants were affected by adult incontinence.

Female incontinence was much more common than male incontinence, with 50 per cent of women and 18.3 per cent of men reporting symptoms.

Men tended to experience urge incontinence, while women were more prone to a combination of urge and stress incontinence, otherwise known as mixed incontinence.

The researchers, whose findings are published in the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, concluded that urinary incontinence was "prevalent" in their low-income study population.

They also revealed: "Chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity were associated with urinary incontinence."

This may help to explain the observed trend, as public health problems such as obesity and high blood pressure tend to be more common in disadvantaged groups.