To evaluate the effect of electroacupuncture and assess the impact of menopausal status in women with stress urinary incontinence or stress predominant mixed urinary incontinence.
This study was conducted as a subgroup analysis of the data collected from two multicenter, randomized controlled trials conducted on 1004 women; 384 of these subjects were pre- or postmenopausal women who received the same electroacupuncture treatment for stress urinary incontinence or stress-predominant mixed urinary incontinence. The primary outcome evaluated in this study was the proportion of subjects who had at least a 50% reduction in the mean 72-h incontinence episodes frequency from baseline and the difference between pre- and postmenopausal groups, as measured at the end of 6 weeks using the 72-h bladder dairy.
Among the 384 women, 132 were premenopausal and 252 were postmenopausal. Compared to baseline, measurement at the end of 6 weeks of treatment showed at least 50% reduction in the mean 72-h incontinence episodes frequency in 61.83% and 58.85% of the women in the premenopausal and postmenopausal groups, respectively (difference 1.06%, 95% confidence interval, -13.87 to 15.99; p=0.889). No statistically significant intergroup differences were noted in the changes from baseline in the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form score and the 1-h amount of urine leakage. Electroacupuncture-related adverse events occurred in 1.52% of the premenopausal and 1.59% of the postmenopausal women.
This subgroup analysis indicated that electroacupuncture can improve the symptoms of urinary incontinence in women with stress urinary incontinence or stress-predominant mixed urinary incontinence and that menopausal status may not affect the effects of electroacupuncture in subjects.

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