Quality of life in women with urinary incontinence

Abstract

Conflict of interest: noneThe aim of this study is to examine the relationship among psychological, clinical and sociodemographic variables, and quality of life in women with urinary incontinence. The sample consisted of 80 women diagnosed with urinary incontinence (UI) followed in a Northern Central Hospital in Portugal. Participants answered the Incontinence Quality of Life (I-QOL); Satisfaction with Sexual Relationship Questionnaire (SSRQ); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS) and the Brief Cope. The results revealed that women with higher quality of life considered their symptoms of urine loss as mild or moderated compared to those with severe urine loss. The less severe urine loss was associated with greater sexual satisfaction and less use of religion and self-blame as coping strategies. In terms of coping, women who considered the loss of urine as severe expressed more feelings regarding UI. Stress urinary incontinence, high sexual satisfaction, and less use of denial, distraction, and religion as coping strategies, predicted higher quality of life. According to the results, UI has an impact on women's sexual satisfaction and quality of life. Therefore, intervention programs should target these women, including their partners, helping them to adjust to their condition and teaching effective coping strategies in order to improve their sexual satisfaction and quality of life.

Assessment of Psychological Symptoms and Quality of Life among Women with Urinary Incontinence

“…This supported with the study carried out among four developed countries who found The present study showed a statistically signifi cant differences between Yemeni and Egyptian women as regards symptoms of anxiety and depression (p=0.003).The largest percent of psychological symptoms among Yemeni women were in anxiety and depression, while in Egyptian women were somatization and phobic anxiety. This result in agreement with Senra et al [22] who reported that more than one third of women with UI had depressive and anxiety symptoms.…”

Impacto dos tipos de incontinência urinária na qualidade de vida de mulheres

“…An Arab study found that women with MUI lost urine more times, in greater quantity and with greater impact on daily life, reaching the worst scores of the questionnaire compared to women with other UI subtypes (25) . However, some studies highlight the severity of symptoms (amount of urine loss and frequency of loss), rather than the UI subtype as the most important predictive factor for a poorer QoL (26)(27) .…”

Prevalence and Possible Risk Factors for Urinary Incontinence: A Cohort Study in the City of Izmir

“…UI considerably reduces the QoL of women and it leads to depression [7] . However, most of the patients do not regard their symptoms as abnormal or serious and some of them do not consult a doctor because of shyness [3] .…”