BACKGROUND: Current health policies advocate patient participation in treatment decision-making. Objective. To explore whether role preferences among women with urinary incontinence (UI) change depending on the treatment decision-making context. We also explore what factors are associated with role preferences and changes in role preferences. METHODS: A national telephone survey of 265 women with UI identified from 1,000 randomly selected Norwegian women aged 18 or over. The interview included questions on socioeconomic factors, general health status, UI-related factors, and role preferences. Women were categorised as preferring an 'active', 'collaborative', or 'passive' role in treatment decision-making based on their selection of a response from the Control Preferences Scale. RESULTS: Women's preferences changed significantly when considering UI treatment decision-making compared to treatment decision-making generally (p