Female urinary incontinence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32385/rpmgf.v21i1.10106Keywords:
Urinary Incontinence, Prevalence, Healthcare-seeking Behaviour, FemaleAbstract
Introduction: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a health problem with important consequences. It has a high prevalence in adult women.Despite this, only one third of the patients inform their doctor of their UI. This problem has not been very well studied in Portugal. Objectives: To determine UI prevalence, its characteristics and treatment expectations in women 40 or older. To determine the percentage that reported UI to their doctor and the reasons for not reporting. To establish the association between UI type, its gravity and age. To identify the explanatory factors for reporting UI to the doctor. Study type: Observational, cross-sectional, descriptive with analytic component. Setting: Senhora da Hora Health Centre, Portugal. Population: Women 40 or older, registered at the Sa da Hora Health Centre. Methods: Random sample of 400 women 40 years old or older registered at Senhora da Hora Health Centre. A self-questionnaire was applied. Statistic analysis: sample description, 2 test (compare ratio), logistic regression (explanatory factors for reporting UI). Results: Response rate: 71,75%. The prevalence of UI reached 35,2%. 59% of the incontinent women consider this problem as being very important. Only 34,2% report their problem to the doctor and the most frequent reasons not to communicate it were to consider it a normal event, part of ageing (25%) or to think that it would disappear without help (23%). The explanatory factors for reporting UI to the doctor were the quantity and the duration of the urine loss. Discussion/Conclusion: The UI prevalence in women is high. Only one third talked with the doctor about this problem. New studies are needed to evaluate the knowledge about UI and its treatment and to modify the behaviour of the patients/doctors in face of this problem.Downloads
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
The authors will assign to the RPMGF the sole right to publish and distribute the content of the manuscript specified in this declaration via physical, electronic, broadcasting or any other medium that may come into existence. They also grant the RPMGF the right to use and exploit this manuscript, in particular by assigning, selling or licensing its content. This permission is permanent and takes effect from the moment the manuscript is submitted, has the maximum duration allowed by applicable Portuguese or international law and is of worldwide scope. The authors further declare that this assignment is made free of charge. If the RPMGF informs the authors that it is not going to publish their manuscript, the exclusive assignment of rights ceases forthwith.
The authors authorise the RPMGF (or any entity it may appoint) to act on their behalf when it believes that copyright may have been infringed.
