The greatest taboo: urinary incontinence as a source of shame and embarrassment

Abstract

Despite its high prevalence, urinary incontinence is still considered a taboo in up to 60% of our Austrian test persons. The level of shame and embarrassment of urinary incontinence is significantly higher than that of depression and cancer.

Effects of stigma on Chinese women's attitudes towards seeking treatment for urinary incontinence

“…Stigma associated with UI was significantly higher than that of other stigmatised diseases, such as depression and cancer (Elenskaia et al . ). UI‐related stigma has been conceptualised as having three dimensions: social rejection, social isolation and internalised shame (Fife & Wright , Wu et al .…”

Disease stigma and its mediating effect on the relationship between symptom severity and quality of life among community‐dwelling women with stress urinary incontinence: a study from a Chinese city

“…An Australian study indicated that the level of shame and embarrassment for UI was significantly higher than that for depression and cancer (Elenskaia et al . ). Accumulating evidence suggests a negative effect of stigma on the QoL associated with such diseases as schizophrenia (Park et al .…”

Quality of Life in Women with Stage 1 Stress Urinary Incontinence after Application of Conservative Treatment—A Randomized Trial

“…UI is considered to be more embarrassing than other diseases, such as depression or cancer [46]. Our study with ICIQ LUTS QoL demonstrated that conservative treatment including PFM training and exercises for supporting muscles (Regimen A) contributed to a significant decrease in embarrassment level (QW), while similar effect was not observed for isolated PFM training.…”